The Butterfly Effect
by purplefeather21
Summary: He’s used to being the top dog on Raw, and along that, comes the million of women who throw themselves at him. Now John must fight for the attention of the one woman who has secretly had his heart
1. Surprise Comeback

**A/N: Hey guys! This is the sequel to An act of nobility, in John's POV. Please read and review. I hope you like it. John's rehab is a bit different on here. I am not very good at writing wrestlers point of view, but I tried real hard to make it seem good. At first, it was only going to be a one-shot, but then, I became inspired to make it into a story. **

**Disclaimer : I don't own the WWE Superstars in the story or the lyrics to Ashley's song , only the idea. **

**Thank you : Super T, JamieluvsHHH, Inday, bluesnowball24, giftiebee, xAttitudex, and LionsLady 11-09-70 for reviewing An act of nobility. I really appreciate it. **

**  
Special Thanks: Thank you Tina for helping me, and giving me your support. I really appreciate that your help. It means so much to me. Also, to Kat for waiting for me to finish it. I can't tell you how happy I am about you caring about this story, and reading it. **

**Summary : **" He's used to being the top dog on Raw, and along that, comes the million of women who throw themselves at him. Now John must fight for the attention of the one woman who has secretly had his heart"

The Butterfly Effect

_You better hold on tight  
Cause I'm gonna love you nice  
I'm gonna do it right  
Let me light a fire in you tonight_

My eyes have never seen someone who looks like you  
I wonder if you dream of my hands loving you  
Because I know I do every day and every night  
And I know I'll lose control if I can't crush this appetite

This dream is eating me alive  
This dream is eating me alive  
Can't you see I'm burning up inside?  
I pray I will not be denied

Let's light a fire tonight  
Let's play the music loud  
Let's expand the flames up high  
Let's burn it to the ground

Let's light a fire tonight  
Let's play the music loud  
Let's expand the flames up high  
Let's burn it to the ground

You better hold on tight  
Cause I'm gonna love you nice  
I'm gonna do it right  
Let me light a fire in you tonight

**John's POV  
**

I wasn't wrestling with anyone that night, and I was bored. I was backstage with the rest of the guys for any other Raw when I heard her song. She had not been wrestling because she had taken time off for Survivor. Then, all of a my best friend, no my _ex-best friend_ came out for the divas lingerie pillow fight against Maria, Jillian, Melina, and Mickie James. I had seen Mickie half an hour ago why did she not tell me Ashley was returning tonight? Then, I remembered I was the one who had screwed up my friendship with Ashley. She had come to my aid when I had my pectoral tear, which is when I killed our friendship.

**flashback**

" _Hey John" Ashley greeted me with that sweet voice and smile I loved._

Unfortunately for Ashley though, I was in a bad mood. Do not get me wrong, I was grateful she was here with me, but at the same time, I hated having Ash here. I hated that she saw me like this, all weak and helpless. I hated the look in her eyes the first month I was home. The only thing I did that first month was lie. I was in so much pain, it was unbearable. I felt as if I wasn't getting better, but worse. My whole body hurt every time I woke up. I had fevers in the middle of the nights. Lucky for me, my brother Matt was also here with us, and he covered for me every time. Whenever I was sick, and I didn't want Ash to find out, I went to Matt. He helped me, and covered for me every time Ashley came, and wanted to see me at the worst times. 

_I called it pity, while my brother Matt called it caring. The way her eyes looked so sad every time she looked at me. I could not stand that, as much as I loved her, I did not want her here with me, seeing me in pain. So, I decided to do something I would probably end up regretting by the end of the day. I was going to kick her out of the house no matter what it took. _

_  
" What do you want Ashley?" I asked her in a cold voice._

_Then, I saw the hurt and surprise in her eyes as she tried to seem unaffected by my sudden coldness.  
_

" _I just was just wondering if you wanted to go out to the park with Matt and I. " Ashley said quietly._

"_Well, Ash that is a great idea. Yeah, why don't we do that, so then every stinking fan will know that I am in pain. Then, what is worse, they will ask me when I am coming back. You are a genius Ashley. Yeah, let's go do that" I was practically screaming at her now._

"Well, sorry John. How was I supposed to know. I am sorry. I didn't think" Ashley said, before I cut her off.  


"_Oh damn right you didn't think Ashley! Just like you didn't think when you went out with Hardy right after his break up. Then, with London, you go out with him, even though he is Matt Hardy's friend. How could you Ash? That is only something a skunkweed do! Get out of my house. Right now, I do not want you here. All you will do is mess up my return, My brother does not want you here, just like I don't. Do you know why I am going so slowly? It is I feel bad to leave you all alone on Raw. Hell, I know the minute you saw Hunter you would come crying in tears Now, get the hell out Ashley," I screamed to her, hoping she would leave me to my own self misery._

" _Okay John_

_Then, I saw as she quietly went to the room she had been sleeping in all this time, and started to packing her clothes e to what I assumed would be another Raw. I went to my room and locked myself in there, in hopes of having her leave without attempting a goodbye. It wouldn't surprise me if she didn't. I mean, I had been so rude to her. I even said stuff I didn't mean. _

_ For a moment, I wanted to take back everything I had said, and just beg for her forgiveness. I could always tell her the truth about how much I hated to her seeing me at my worst. I couldn't tell her that I was in so much pain, so I could always make up al lie._

" _Yeah, that would work out John, " my brother said, guessing what I was about to do._

" _What are you talking about?" I asked playing it cool in hopes of not being discovered. _

"_What am I talking about? You know darn well what I am talking about. I am talking about you telling Ashley more lies. You think that telling her a lie will make things better? Do you really think that? The more lies you feed her, the more you end up pushing her away. Every time you lie, she pretends as if she can't tell, just so you won't get mad and start arguing with her. Now, when I come home from visiting mom and dad, I find a sobbing Ashley attempting to pack all of her belongings into her suitcase. What did you do John ? Because in these 9 months out, you have been so rude to Ashley, and for strange reasons that I can not figure out she cares about you so much, that she is still her," Matt said, now playing the role of an older brother. _

"_Okay, fine. You caught me. What do you want me to say. You know how much I love her Matt. You can not expect me to just let her stay here and watch me get not better, but worse. I said stuff, but I dont really think that is any of your business. What I do withmy life is my business, not yours," I told him, trying to convince both ourselves that I was doing the right thing. _

_Then, as he was about to answer, we heard the unmistakable sound ofa door being slammed. _

_From that point on in those next months of rehab, I worried about coming back, and tried not to worry about Ashley and what she could possibly be doing. I concentrated on getting better and coming back to the ring soon. I knew I couldnt bother to think about calling her, or everything I had worked for so far, would crumble into pieces. There were so many times I grabbed my cell phone , and called her. Everytime I called her, I wound up hanging up before she even had a chance to answer me. So many times, did I do that, and at one point, Matt caught me and told me I should talk to her. I responded and told him she probably wouldnt even talk to me. He said he noticed that if Ashley was anything, it was that she was exceptionally kind. _

_So, I decided to take my brothers advice, and I called her on the Armageddon_

_Weekend. What I didnt know was that she was busy._

" _Ashley Massaro speaking, who is it ?" Ashley asked, and I realized she sounded sleepy. _

_Through out this, I kept silent, fearing she would hang up on me as soon as she found out who it was._

"_Hello, who is this ? If you dont start talking , I will hang up on you. Adam, if this is one of your stupid little prank calls, because if it is, I will kill you the next time I see you, " Ashley said._

_Then, I hung up on her. After months of wanting to talk to het, I hang up on her. Why ? Because I find out that in my stupid decsion to pull her away from me, she becomes friends with one of my worst enemies by the name of Adam Copeland. How that had happened, was beyond me. He was such a jerk, and Ash was such a sweetheart. __Adam was a man who had no concern for anyone other than himself. He would throw his best friend under the bus if given the chance, and I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him. He had stabbed so many people in the back, and had no respect for women at all. He was notorious for sleeping with the groupies, then dumping them the next day. __If he hurt her, I would kill him… _

**Back to Present Day (**** Still in **John's** POV )**

Then, I saw as she won the match and the ref held her hand up high. I was so proud of her for winning on her first day back. To make matter better, she had come to Raw. Suddenly, my emotions went from happyness to dread as I realized I probably wasnt the first person she would want to talk to. If I went up to her, she would most likely ignore me, and I couldnt exactly blame her. I saw as she walked up the ramp and raised her fist in victory.

As I headed out of the arena, I saw my chance. I saw Ashley standing there , and by the looks of it, she had just finished a phone conversation, and the best part of this, was that she was alone. So, I bravely took the initiative, and decided to try and talk to her.

" Ashley, can I talk to you really quick? " I asked her.

" Sure you can, oh its you " she said curtly.

"Yeah, its me Ash, " I told her, calling her by old name I previously had for her.

" So after not wanting to talk to me for months, now you want to tallk to me ? What cold have possibly changed your mind ? Did you suddenly realize how mean you had been? Because you know what John, I creid myself asleep after that, " Ashley told me, now sounding bitter.

" Look, I know how mad you are, and you have every right to be. I just want to talk to you about that day. Ashley, I really am sorry for everything , I tried telling her before I got cut off by Mickie James.

" Hey Ashley, I am so glad I found you. I have been looking all over for you girly. Are you going to the club with the rest of is or not ? " she asked Ashley, then she saw me, and looking worried when she saw Ashs stony face staring at me intently.

" Ashley, I really am sorry. You have no idea of how bad I feel. If I could go back and change what I did, I would Ashley, please believe that, " I asked her.

" Save it for someone who cares John. I am done crying for you," Ashley said coldly, before exiting the arena with Mickie.


	2. I apologize

**A/N: Hey!! So I just wanted to let the people who've read this the first chapter of this fic, that I'm still working on it. I've been working on it. I want to make it longer, and it shouldn't take me more than a few days to update again. Again, sorry for the delay. **


	3. A New Discovery

**A/N: I am so sorry for taking such a long time in writing a new chapter. I have the flu, writer's block and school is driving me crazy. Please don't kill me, and if you do, I don't blame you. I really hope this was worth the long wait. This is still Jashley, and not Edge/Ashley. Lol. I'm VERY sure this isn't t Jorrie. I'm not a fan of this pairing, so I definitely won't write about them. Watch out for every character, because they may not be what they seem. Okay, so I know Melina is hurt since Monday, but let's pretend she isn't. I started working on this before Monday, and the Draft already ruined two stories. Jeff will still be there, as will Mr. Kennedy. I don't care if they aren't there anymore. I was doing this before the Draft. Also, I made it longer ****J**

**Gosh!! This totally sucks. I just found out Ashley asked for her release. This is so sad. I wish her and her daughter all the best. Hopefully, she can come back. It sucks for me because she was my favorite Diva….**

**Thank you Tina and Kat for your awesome help. I had some rough patches with this, and you both helped me, and I am really grateful for that. I love you both. You rock ****J**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song mentioned in this chapter, or its lyrics. I also don't own the WWE or its Superstars. This, quite sadly means I don't own Chris Jericho ****L**

**Okay, so while finishing this, I found out my grandfather passed away. I had huge plans for this chapter, but forgive me if it isn't that good at the end. I just can't do it at the moment. My apologies, and the next chapter will make up for it. I'm just having a bad time right now. I really am sorry for taking a long while in posting this. **

Driving through the busy streets was something that didn't usually bother Mickie. Unfortunately, those other drives had been full of laughter and fun. Today, her car ride with Ashley was just depressing. Her friend had been quiet after bumping into Cena. She didn't really blame her, as Ashley had confided in her, telling her the truth of why she and John weren't on speaking terms. Every other Superstar thought many different things, each of them sillier than the previous one. Kelly said that Ashley had a one-night stand with John, and he left her. Carlito thought that she had done it with the former WWE Champion, and had an abortion. All of this, Mickie had been disgusted to hear when Layla had spoken to her last week at a tri-branded show. Layla being the nosy girl she was had asked Mickie if any of these accusations toward her friend were true. Mickie had kept silent on this however; afraid of what the Dirty Diva would do if she found out. She already had enough on her plate as it was. She had Kelly always making insinuations about nonsense, and spreading rumors about her, and then she had her drama with John.

Now that Ashley was on Raw, everyone could see the change in her. The first time around, she let herself be bullied by Hunter. If you made a comment about her now, she would defend herself. Mickie was very proud of the blonde for that. She had seen how hard it was for Ashley to be on Raw, but couldn't do anything because of Hunter's power. Everyone was smart enough to keep on his good graces whether they liked him or not. If you said something to him, or stood against his beliefs, you might just find yourself fired the next day. Of course, Mickie had to give credit where credit was due, quite reluctantly though. Adam Copeland was also part of the reason her best friend wound up okay. Sure, she just like many of the other Superstars except for Randy Orton and Ashley, had been prejudiced, and thought he was a Rated R jerk. She had been wrong, to her surprise. After the whole thing with Matt and Amy, people talked about him, and he put up a cocky attitude to act as if he didn't care what others thought of him. She had been shocked to see how sweet and affectionate this man was. During a pay per view, she had found Adam letting Ashley cry on his shoulder as she had attempted to talk about John. She went up to them, and asked the blonde Canadian what was wrong. After that, Mickie had learned it was wrong to judge someone before you really met them. She had found out that the Canadian man actually cared about her best friend. As much as she wanted to say she was the one that made a difference through Ashley's hard times, she couldn't.

Well, it was him and Orton. Although she had to admit she couldn't stand the Missouri native. She and Adam were now friends, and got along perfectly fine after they had taken the time to know each other. Orton on the other hand was rude to her. He was so different to her friend though. She was the only Diva he treated with respect. Maybe it was the fact Ashley stood up to him, and for him, or maybe it was because he wanted to have a more than friendly relationship with Ashley. Mickie was hoping it was the first, because as much as he was nice to Ashley, it could all be a trick. He was known for wanting to get in women's pants, and forgetting all about them by the next day. How Ashley seemed to be friends with him was beyond her understanding. Ashley had a golden heart, and was known for being exceptionally kind, and so was Mickie, but being friends with a guy who was a jerk in and out of the ring, was just something she couldn't do. Maybe it was her, but the guy just wasn't friendly enough to have a conversation with, much less be friends with him.

Not hearing Ashley's tap on her shoulder due to the fact she was in deep thinking, Mickie was unaware they had reached their destination.

"Hey Micks we're here," Ashley said as she waved her hand in front of her best friend's face.

"Oh yeah the hotel. Right, I guess I didn't hear you. Sorry Ash. You caught me off guard," Mickie said sheepishly.

"Thinking about Chris now, weren't you?" Ashley teased, referring to Mickie's boyfriend, and current Intercontinental Champion.

"Excuse me? I was not," Mickie said indignantly.

"Yeah, I'm sure you weren't.? That's why you heard me telling you we were here, right?" Ashley asked still teasing her friend.

"You know what? You can think whatever you wan Ashes, but I wasn't thinking about Chris, no matter what you want to believe," Mickie said, surprised at Ashley's sudden mood change.

"Yeah, yeah if that's what you want to say," Ashley responded patronizingly.

"You know, I think it's getting late. If we ever want to make it in time to the club, we should hurry up," Mickie said, trying to steer the conversation away from her boyfriend.

"Yes, that way, the faster we get there, the faster you see Chris, right?" Ashley asked.

"No, I promised you I wouldn't leave you alone in case John decided to go. I wouldn't be a very good friend if I didn't stick to my promise," Mickie told the punky Diva stubbornly.

"Well, you can go with Chris, that is okay with me," Ashley told her friend confidently.

"Yeah, and leave you alone? I don't think so missy," Mickie replied, even more stubbornly than before. Putting John and Ashley in a room together was bound to cause some drama, and as far as she was concerned, Ashley needed a drama-free night, and if she had to stay with her in order to see her wish come true, she would do it without a problem.

"See that's where you're wrong Mickie. I invited Adam to come with us," Ashley said proudly, thinking she had won the discussion she was having with Mickie.

"You did? How is that possible? I thought Adam was working?" Mickie asked confusedly.

"He was. Now, he's on vacation. Mr. McMahon gave him three weeks off," Ashley replied, feeling suddenly gracious towards her friend wherever he was at the moment, before continuing "Besides you need a fun night in town with Chris. You haven't been spending time with him now that you -now-know is back, " Ashley accused, refusing to say his name, because she would without a doubt get sad.

"So? Chris understands that you need me more than he does at the moment," Mickie smiled at the thought of her boyfriend.

"I just told you I won't be alone. Adam and Randy will be there, as will the rest of the Raw Superstars," Ashley said, getting a bit irritated with Mickie's over-protectiveness.

"Okay fine you win. Are you happy now? "Mickie asked defeated.

"Yes I am," Ashley said smiling at her best friend. It was things like these that made her forget all about the troubles she had at the moment.

"Since that's settled, I think it's time we go up to the hotel," Mickie said excitedly as she would soon be able to have some fun with Chris."Now you're excited, aren't you?" Ashley teased her best friend. "It's just that Ive been sort of neglecting him this past week," Mickie admitted

"Why on earth would you do that?" Ashley asked.

"I didn't want to leave you alone in case John came and cornered you," Mickie admitted.

"That's alright Micks. He still came and tried to talk to me," Ashley said quietly. "Yeah, and it's my fault. I was congratulating Chris on his win against Jeff, and I lost track of time," Mickie said guiltily.

"No it's not. Even if you had been there, he would have tried to talk to me," Ashley told her friend. "I guess," Mickie said.

"In that case, I think I will take your suggestion and go up to change," Ashley

said.

"Right and I'll join you," Mickie said, then attempted to catch up with her blonde friend who was practically running.

"Hurry up Micks, you're going too slowly," Ashley told her friend, and stopped in order to let Mickie come besides her.

"Whoa there Killer. Why are you in such a hurry? I thought I was the one who couldn't wait to get to the club," Mickie teased."You are I just don't want to be late. Adam came through for me right now, and I don't want to keep him waiting. It's rude," Ashley replied.

"Wait, so you're hurrying me up for him?" Mickie asked.

"Well, not exactly," Ashley said, avoiding answering with a yes or no.

"What do you mean?" Mickie asked, getting slightly confused now.

"You know it takes time for a girl to look good. We're not the guys who throw on the first thing they find," Ashley said giggling as had been a witness on her statement.

"Yeah, you're right. Now let's hurry up or we're never going to get there, and Chris might think I didn't go, and he could leave," Mickie said hurriedly.

"Oh, so now we're hurrying up for Chris? I do have a date to the club too you know? A certain Canadian blonde by the name of Adam Copeland?" Ashley said teasingly.

"Nope sorry, it doesn't ring a bell," Mickie mocked.

"Haha, well I'm sorry to say Chris Jericho doesn't ring a bell to me. Plus, seeing as I don't know who that is, I don't think I'll be getting ready for him, or hurrying up in that matter," Ashley said just as mockingly.

"Right, so you want to get ready for Adam? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" Mickie asked, actually interested in the route this conversation was taking.

"What? How did this conversation go from talking about getting ready to Adam? Where are you getting these crazy ideas from?" Ashley said nervously, trying to avoid answering the question.

"You know what? I noticed you didn't answer the question, but I'm not done talking to you about this," Mickie told Ashley seriously.

"Why? Even if I did have feelings for anyone, I wouldn't tell you. Last time Melina told you about her relationship with Dave, it ended up as locker room news within an hour," Ashley said proudly about remembering hearing the news about one of her good friends from Randy Orton.

"It did not," Mickie said indignantly.

"Yes it did Mickie, and you know it. Come on, you were even hiding from Melina," Ashley said giggling at the fiasco that had happened over a few months ago.

"No I wasn't. I just had a leg cramp, and had to walk around," Mickie replied, trying to convince Ashley otherwise of what she was saying.

"A leg cramp? Sure, one that consisted of walking away from Melina right?" Ashley asked because she enjoyed teasing Mickie as much as Mickie enjoyed teasing her.

"Come on. How about we just drop the subject and make peace?" Mickie suggested.

"Or, how about we drop the subject, and we don't have a conversation later?" Ashley suggested the idea she thought would work out perfectly.

"Nope, that doesn't work with me.? Instead, why don't we let the subject of what I did or did not do? Otherwise, I'll probably start talking to Adam on my own," Mickie told her friend, and watching her face change to one of a horrified woman.

"You wouldn't dare," Ashley tried to stay calm while saying this.

"You know I would Ash. It's not like you would dare to tell him you have feelings for him anyways," Mickie smugly responded.

"I what?" Ashley asked staring at her one of her best friends.

"Don't play stupid with me. You know you love Adam. If you don't want to put it that way, at least say he's a very important part of your life," Mickie smiled.

"That he is. The guy has been there for me when I really needed someone," Ashley stated softly.

"Right, but you don't need to keep rubbing it in my face. Sure, the guys helped you, but I've been your best friend for a while now. Doesn't that count?" Mickie asked the looked in her purse for the keys to the hotel she was sharing with Ashley.

"Any luck finding the keys?" Ashley went over to Mickie's purse and helped her look for the keys.

"Aha! Found them," Mickie yelled in victory. "No you didn't. I saw them, but you grabbed them before me," Ashley argued.

"Hmm. If you say so Miss Massaro," Mickie laughed and went inside the room.

"Shut up Mickie. So what are you going to wear?" Ashley asked and went to look for something to wear tonight in her suitcase.

"I don't know. Maybe some jeans and maybe a blue tank top with a little blue jacket over it," Mickie declared.

"Sounds good. I am going to wear a black skirt, a red shirt with some rhinestones on it, a red skulls bandana, and some leather boots," Ashley said proudly as Mickie whistled at the description of Ashley's clothing of choice."Aren't dressing up real nice and sexy? Hoping to impress anybody? Maybe a Canadian man who came to visit you?" Mickie teased once again.

"Can't you just drop that? It's starting to get old," Ashley whined.

"Fine, but stop whining," Mickie agreed.

"Whatever. Just let me get ready and I'll be ready to go," Ashley replied.

"Sure. Just don't take two hours in there," Mickie whispered, hoping Ashley who was now in the shower couldn't hear her.

"I heard that!! And no, I won't take the two hours you usually take," Ashley yelled from inside the shower.

"Sorry Ashes I couldn't resist. How did you hear me anyways? I'm in here, and you're in the shower for crying out loud," Mickie grumbled.

"Supersonic hearing," Ashley yelled proudly once again. "Okay," Mickie replied.

Fifteen minutes alter when Mickie had started to watch Sponge Bob Square Pants; Ashley came out the shower dressed and with dried hair.

"Wow hun. You really do clean up nice when you want to," Mickie was impressed with Ashley's clothes and how good she looked in them.

"I bet Adam's gonna have a heart attack when he sees you," Mickie said happily.

"You have ten seconds Mickie. That's all I'm going to give you," Ashley said simply.

"Ten seconds for what?" Mickie asked in confusedly.

"A ten second head start because I'm about to kill you," Ashley said dangerously.

"Oh crap. You know what? I think I'll take those ten seconds," Mickie responded hurriedly. Then, she ran out the hotel room and went down the stairs in a rush.

Ashley, remembering security always comes first, grabbed her purse, the keys, her cell phone, and locked the door. Once she had finished being careful, she ran after Mickie knowing she would soon catch up with her because although they both had heels on, Mickie was the slow runner out of the two of them. Within two minutes, Ashley had gotten down to the lobby and was looking for Mickie.

"Hey beautiful. Where are you going?" a deep male voice asked her.

"I'm going to find Mickie," Ashley said before getting turned around and told," I don't think so," by the same man.

"Excuse me? Who do you think you are to tell me what I can or cannot do?" Ashley asked hotly, as she was being hugged by the mysterious person, and couldn't see him.

After being released, Ashley looked up to see "The Ultimate Opportunist" Adam Copeland look at her funny.

"Adam!! I'm so sorry. I thought you were someone else. I thought we were going to meet at the club?" Ashley remembered the plans they had made, and was positive that had been the agreement.

"Yeah, but my plane came early, so I thought about surprising you, so I came," Adam said, a boyish like grin on his face.

"And I appreciate that. Now, is there any chance you have seen Mickie?" Ashley asked not so annoyed now because one of her best friends was here with her.

"Have I seen Mickie? Do you mean the Mickie hiding behind Chris Jericho?" Adam asked watching Ashley's face turn into a very large grin. She was surprised to see him there, but guessed he missed Mickie too much to wait until the club to see her there.

"I hate you Adam!" Mickie screamed before running of in the direction opposite of Ashley. Meanwhile, Adam walked over to Chris and greeted him.

"Hey man. How are you doing?" Adam asked politely.

"Sore and tired, but other than that, I'm doing great. I mean I have a beautiful girlfriend, and I'm InterContinental Champion," Chris stated proudly.

"Yeah, you have it pretty good," Adam said, his eyes never leaving the back of the Dirty Diva's back, who was still fighting or rather play fighting with Mickie.

"So what about you? Any special girl in your life? Maybe a New York City native who also happens to be a blonde?" Chris asked not so subtly.

"What, no. Ashley and I are just friends. You're just crazy talking Chris," Adam got defensive.

"Sure I am. Is that why you weren't looking at me, but instead decided to stare at the now not here Ashley?" Chris asked, trying to suppress a smile.

"Dude, you're crazy," Adam responded, avoiding the question, just like Ashley had done previously.

"If you say so," Chris replied.

_Getting back to the girls…_

"What did I ever do to you Ashley?" Mickie asked not even thinking abut her question.

"Oh, I don't know. Does trying to convince me that I loved Adam sound like a good enough reason? Because if it isn't, I got loads of it where that came from," Ashley replied heatedly.

"Okay, I take that back. I know what you mean, and I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" Mickie pleaded.

"Never!!" Ashley grinned an evil grin.

Not needing more than that look on Ashley's face that said it all, Mickie took her heels off and kept on running. Ashley being the fast runner she is, caught up to her in no time, but not without falling down and landing on her butt quite hardly.

"Oh look what we have here. It's the girl who cries because she looses matches and the Dumb Diva. Oops, I mean the Dirty Diva," Candice Michelle jeered. "Well, at least I've been Champion. You came here for what exactly? To show us what we already know, which is that the fans don't want to see you naked?" Mickie defended herself.

"Oh shut up you Psycho," Candice said angrily, obviously having no comeback.

"Aww!! What happened Candice? Did you finally realize we are way better than you?" Ashley asked mockingly, with no ounce of remorse.

"Did you finally learn how to win? Or did you realize John wasn't going to spend much time chasing you anymore because he has me to console him?" Candice asked with a sneer, pure hatred for Ashley etched on her features."You know what Candice? You have ten seconds to get out of here. If not, your next period will come out through your nose," Mickie said dangerously.

"Fine, I'll leave but don't think it's because I'm scared of you. In fact, I could beat you two in a match any day, any time," Candice replied smugly.

"Oh yeah, then prove it. Next week, Ash and I against you and who ever you want to pick. We don't care," Mickie said confidently.

"As you wish. Just know that you'll be the ones begging for mercy," Candice warned them.

"Ha. I'm sure we will," Ashley said, not that stonily because whenever someone mentioned John's name, it would affect her.

"Right well, you better hope you can even find an opponent, because as far as I know, your only friend is Kelly. So, if you team up with her, just know you'll be squashed within three seconds," Mickie warned, more for her benefit rather than Candice's, knowing full well is she didn't loose her patience, Ashley would before her.

"Hmm. Look I'm running scared," Candice stated.

When Candice turned around, Mickie and Ashley went into a laughing fit because Candice had been walking around with a wedgie.

"Hey girls. We're ready to go. Are you coming or not?" Chris asked, while ogling at Mickie's outfit.

"Yep. Just let me put my heels on, and I'm good," Mickie said nervously.

"What were you guys doing?" Adam asked eyebrows arched.

"Oh nothing, just almost beating up Candice Michelle," Ashley giggled.

"What? Did she hurt you guys?" Chris asked worriedly.

"No, she just felt really tough and decided to make some smart comments," Mickie told Adam and Chris.

"What did she say?" Adam asked, staring at a sad Ashley.

"She brought John up. She said he would soon stop trying to talk to me because he would have her to comfort him," Ashley said disgusted by the thought.

"That little--," Chris cursed, then stopping in mid-sentence when he say the girls crack their first smile since the incident.

"Enough of that perverted freak. I think we should hurry up, or we'll get there when the club closes," Adam said, and the trio agreed.

"Whoa wait a second. Who actually brought a car with them?" Mickie asked curiously, and went next to Chris to hold hands.

"I don't. I came with you Mickie, and you came with Melina," Ashley said shamefacedly.

"Lucky for us, I have a have a car I'm not sharing with anyone," Adam said smugly.

"Oh shut it you," Chris said rolling his eyes at one of his best friends.

"Hey, I wouldn't be talking if I was you. I was smart enough to think of bringing a car. You're just jealous," Adam smiled.

"Of course I am. Is it because I'm in a love storyline with a 40 year old lady, or is it because the fans like Batista better than you?" Chris teased.

"At least I don't get teased by The Rock over my hair cut and on live television too. Hey, what are you talking about? You got booed by the fans for not hitting Shawn with a chair, and you make fun of me. If I were you, I wouldn't be talking just yet," Adam warned.

"Okay you big bunch of babies. Stop fighting and make up. I am in no mood for arguments, so stop it now. Is that understood?" Ashley asked edgily.

Seeing Ashley's tense moment, the men quickly made up and shook hands.

Adam went out the front door first, with Ashley tailing him, followed by the duo that was known affectionately as Chickie.

As soon as they had stepped out of the building, Ashley yelled," I call shotgun!!"

"I guess that leaves you stuck with me," Chris said softly to Mickie.

"I don't know about being stuck, because I do enjoy being with you, but yeah, that leaves us two alone in the back," Mickie smiled at her boyfriend.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you two get to be nasty in the back," Adam said, half serious, half jokingly.

"What kind of people do you take us for?" Chris turns to fully look at Adam and his response.

"Civilized people who won't do anything they are not supposed to be doing back there. And if you two decide to steal a kiss or something like that, we'll be okay with that, won't we Adam?," Ashley spoke up for Mickie and Chris.

"Sure we will," Adam planted a fake smile on his face then pouted.

"What now?" Ashley asked a bit rudely, the affects of the encounter with Candice still with her.

"Nothing, I just… never mind," Adam told Ashley, not quite looking at her.

"Come on Adam. Please tell me. You know Candice and I are not the best of friends, and I guess I let her comments get to me more than I should have," Ashley apologized sincerely, not meaning to take out her anger at Adam, who was just about the nicest person on the planet.

"No, it's okay. It was just me being dumb," Adam told Ashley.

"Oh right, you're not dumb. Because if you were, you would be like young Mr. Orton who doesn't have much stored up there," Ashley joked making all three other people in the car laugh.

"Right, but what he doesn't have in the smart department, he makes up by being vicious in the ring," Adam winced, remembering the matches he used to have with his buddy.

"Hey Chris. Look at Ashley and Adam. This was a conversation between all four of us, now they excluded us. It became a private conversation that we can hear because we aren't that far away from them," Mickie whispered.

"Isn't that cute? I asked Adam about liking Ashley, and he ignored my question," Chris whispered just as quietly to his girlfriend.

"No way!! So did Ashley," Mickie smiled at the way her two friends were ignoring their "feelings" for each other.

"Awesome, now if only they knew about their feelings," Chris said quietly, because he knew how much pain Adam had been in after the whole thing with Amy, and how much it had hurt him to see her leave."What happened guys? It got quiet. Wait, I have a solution," Ashley turned on the radio, well more like blasted it, and found out Adam had been listening to "Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss.

"Awesome song man. I haven't gotten the chance to listen to Kiss in a while," Chris said taking a look at his girlfriend.

"It's not my fault all I see to those songs is noise. Sorry to yall, but rock isn't my favorite type of music. Only some rock songs and bands are okay," Mickie defended herself.

"Wait, you said some. Do you like Kiss?" Ashley asked, being very interested in seeing her friend's answer.

"Of course I like Kiss. It's the fact Chris puts it in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping that bothers me. I have no problem listening to Kiss, but not when I'm sleeping," Mickie remembered the times at home when Chris would start playing Kiss's music real loud and winced.

"And does your taste in good rock music include Fozzy?" Chris asked apprehensively.

"Maybe, maybe not," Mickie said good naturedly, all traces of annoyance gone."Well, I'm glad you like Kiss and everything Mickie, but we're here. I don't know about you guys, but I do not want to stay in the car while I could be inside and not melt in the car with how hot it is in here," Adam declared.

"I think you're right," Ashley smiled at Adam.

"Of course I am," Adam joked.

"Okay guys, let's get out the car," Chris said hurriedly.

"Sure, but the only reason you want to get out is to go dance with your girlfriend, or am I wrong?" Adam smirked, knowing the answer to that question, and grinned when he say Chris nod in agreement. Before Ashley could get out the car, Adam raced to her side, opened the car door and offered her a hand.

"Thank you. Always a gentleman, you don't see those too much in this company," Ashley said, obviously referring to John Cena. "Well, it's nice to be appreciated. On television, all you see me is doing things for Vickie," Adam replied grudgingly.

"I know. I watch Smackdown, or don't you remember? Are you getting old? Do I need to start calling you grandpa?" Ashley asked looking up at Adam's shocked expression.

"I am not that old," Adam said indignantly.

"Oh, I know you're not. I'm just playing with you," Ashley batted her eyelashes at Adam.

"Okay Ms. I can bat my eyelashes let's get inside before we melt and become popsicles, because in this weather, we just might," Adam said seriously.

Opening the club's door, Ashley and Adam stepped inside, and saw it full of wrestlers and staff.

"It looks like the club was rented out by us," Ashley joked.

"Actually, it was," Melina joined the couple's conversation.

"No wonder. I see all the Divas, but where are the guys?" Adam asked, looking around for the men.

"See those tables in the back? They are right there," Melina pointed to the barely lighted tables in the back of the club.

Ashley and Melina exchanged greetings, and, after spotting a few of their fellow WWE Superstars, started to make their way across the room to speak to them with Adam trailing behind them.

"Hey guys," Ashley said, directing her comment at Shawn, Hunter, Jeff, and Mr. Kennedy who were at the table.

John Cena was at the round table too, but Ashley didn't think he was worth an acknowledgment. She could feel his eyes look at her intensely, and at the way Adam's hand were wrapped around her small waist since they had gotten to the table full of other Superstars. It didn't matter to her now. She was happy, and didn't need the drama being friends with Cena involved. She had done it before, and it left her hurt and heart broken.

She received a nod from Hunter, who was now acting nice to her. Since her return, he apologized for the way he was acting, and said his head had been too far up his butt to see how nice and how not shallow Ashley really was.

The Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels gave her a," Hey Ashley" and a warm smile.

Jeff actually got up and hugged her. Staring at Adam's over-protective way of hugging Ashley, almost not letting her go.

Mr. Kennedy waved his and asked," Where's Chris? I though he came with you?"

"He did come with us. He's over by that booth kissing Mickie," Ashley said, and watched Ken Kennedy go from looking around for Mickie and Chris, to quickly turning around since their kisses where very showy.

_'Yung Joc 'Yeah' 'I don't think they're ready for this one'_

_Yung JocCherish, they make me wanna lose controlYeah, shawty, owwwww!_

_In a wife beater two-seater cruise controlPull up and your girl might lose controlDime play a circle with that duffle bag boyGuaranteed they can't get enough of that boy_

Ash loved this song and every one at the table knew it. She was getting an uncomfortable feeling, as if some one was watching her. Actually, more like staring at her. She could feel it burning a hole in her. She looked around to see if any one was staring at her but found no one to be looking at her. She looked right across the table and found the source. He was the one staring at her. He had been burning the hole through her. He looked at her with a loving smile. She turned away quickly and bumped into Adam.

"That was disturbing…… Anyways, do you want to dance Ashley?" Adam asked the smell of alcohol sweet yet sour on his breath.

"Sure. You picked a great time. It's one song I like," Ashley said, taking Adam's hand and walking off to the dance floor with him to John's great displeasure. John's posture became stiff. The smile slowly faded from his lips and turned into more of a snarl. His eyes narrowed and his heart raced. His body became hot with anger.

_I saw him from a distanceThen I watched him make his way to the floor (floor, floor, floor)He walked up to me slowly, whispersAnd he says 'I know who you are' (are, are, are)I wanna get to know you_

_I can tell he was a playerBut he knows just how to make you lose controlSomehow I knew_

Ashley and Adam were grinding. Their bodies were really close to each other. Her hips moving from side to side. She was laughing, her head inclining towards his chest. John couldn't take it anymore. Slowly, he made his way to the bar, and slumped next to Hunter. _Shawty is a killerBut I really want himAnd I got to have him tonightStraight heart breakerBut it really don't matter'cause I really want him tonight_

"You okay kid?" Hunter asked, looking at the sighing John.

"Quite honestly, no I'm not okay. I'm upset, confused, angry, sad, I don't know anymore. First, I try to talk to talk to Ashley and say I'm sorry, and she just walks away. Then, I have to put up with her flirting and dancing with that man. I know I did something wrong but, that she would rather be with Edge than me. It's just stupid," John said angrily.

"You guys want anything to drink?" the bartender guy asked John and Hunter.

"You sure can. I'll take a shot of Jack Daniels. No you know what? I'll take the whole bottle," John grinned.

"Um, I'll take a beer please," Hunter told the barman.

_Oh it feels so wrong that it must, it must be rightAnd I'm so high, don't wanna come downJust let me fly_

_Ashley and Adam danced through this, acting as if no one was surrounding them, or in their own world. _

"What kind sir?" the guy asked.

"I don't really care. I'm not picky," Hunter said.

"Yes sir. I'll be back with your drinks," the guy said and walked away.

"A whole bottle of Jack Daniels huh? What do you need a whole bottle? Isn't a shot okay? You're not usually a heavy drinker John," Hunter said quietly.

"Since when has there been a drinking law saying I can't have a bottle of Jack Daniels? I can try new things you know," John said exasperated at Hunter's questions.

"Here you are," the bartender left Hunter his beer and John his bottle of Jack Daniels. "Fine, but you know that won't take your problems away. It will only make them ten times bigger. Trust me, I know," Hunter advised John seriously.

"What the hell would you know about what would or would not fix my problems? You have a perfect life. Gosh, you even have a secured place with the company. You have no idea what I'm going through. So don't act like you do," John growled and took a big gulp of his whiskey.

"Whoa, calm down, John. I'm not trying to act like I know what you're going through. I'm just offering you advice, as a friend. I don't like seeing you this way and I just want to make sure that you don't end up doing anything you might regret later." And as for having a perfect life, trust me John...it is FAR from perfect. I may not be going through the same thing as you, but I do know how you feel. But you can't go about it this way," Hunter warned.

"Whatever man. I don't have to do anything you tell me to. You're not my father and you never will be. Plus, it's not like Ashley actually cares about me anymore. I killed any chance of our friendship developing into something more," John said, once again, chugging down his liquor.

"I'm just trying to help you John. After what you did to her, you think all it will take is an apology? She's hurt John, and you were the one that caused that pain. Give her time; time is important in something like this. Take things slowly. Shouldn't you drink more slowly?" Hunter asked becoming worried at the way John was drinking.

"No, I'm good," John grinned; his speech slurred due to the fact half the bottle was gone.

"Dude that's sickening. You drank half the bottle in like what two minutes?" Hunter asked apprehensively.

"Yep, and does it feel great. All the pain I had, it's gone," John smiled happily, well more accurately _drunkenly. _

"Right. Just be careful," Hunter warned.

"Sure sure," John said patronizingly, and then he stood up stumbling and tripping,

wobbly and unsteadily trying to make his way to where Adam and Ashley were.

"What are doing Cena? Get back here this instant," Hunter yelled as loud as he could, anxious for the chaos that was about to irrupt.Adam was whispering sweet things to Ashley, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around, Adam saw John standing behind him. The former WWE Champion was unsteady on his feet, and looked as if he would fall at any minute. _What the heck is he doing? _Adam thought angrily.

"What the hell are you doing with her?" John slurred his voice barely audible over the loud music.

"I'm dancing with her, duh. What does it look like I am doing? Just take a chill pill dude." Adam said. He was a little aggravated at John for ruining his perfect moment.

"John, just leave him alone." Ashley said in a small voice. She was barely audible also.

"Why? So he can get into your pants tonight and forget about you tomorrow? No, I'm not going to let that happen to you Ash." John shouted, the lights were turning his face different colors and casting strange patterns on his stern face. It was hard to make out what he was thinking. All of a sudden he grabbed Adam by the collar of his shirt and shoved him up against the wall. He squared his jaw. "I will not let you hurt her; I will not let you ruin her life. If you so much as lay another hand on her, I swear to you Adam I will tear you limb from limb. That's not a threat, it's a promise." John spat in his face. Adam stared at John wide eyed as he let go. He grabbed John by his shirt.

"Listen. I would never hurt her. How dare you think I would hurt her you prick." Adam growled into John's face.

"Let go of me." John said. Instead of letting go Adam tightened his grip. "I said let go of me." Adam tightened his grip more. John let lose and punched Adam in the face. Adam took a few steps back and clutched his nose. His eye became wide with either fear or anger.

"You son of a bitch." He murmured before tackling John to the floor. He began to pound relentlessly into Johns face.

"Adam no, get off of him." Ashley began to try and pull Adam off John but to no avail. "Please not here, not now." She cried. "John…Adam…please can we all just work this out later?"

"NO! NO WE CAN'T WORK THIS OUT LATER!" Adam yelled. "We'll work this out here and now." He smirked down at John and began to strangle him. By now they had a crowd surrounding them, one of whom was Hunter, and he wasn't too pleased by what he was seeing. He decided he had better break it up before John ending up beaten to a bloody pulp or dead. He shoved his way through the growing crowd and made his way into the middle where the two men were brawling. He grabbed Adam by his pants and flung almost as if he was nothing, against a wall. Then he picked up John.

"Come on John, you don't wanna do this here. Let's not do this right now." He bent down to tell John but quickly turned his head. The stench of alcohol was heavy on John's breath. "Not to mention you're also drunk"." Hunter said mater-of-factly.

"You're right Hunter. Let's just leave," John said slurred and quietly, now aware that there had been a crowd surrounding them.

"Yeah that's right. You better leave," Adam screamed at the back of John's exiting form, which was being supported by Hunter."Adam I don't know what to tell you. Why would you go and fight in a club? You know that if Mr. McMahon finds out, we are so dead right?" Ashley asked uneasily.

"So what? I'm not the one who got drunk and wanted to start a fight. He was stupid enough to come and egg me on. Of course I'm going to be upset if he's trying to prove he's better than when he is not," Adam replied heatedly.

"I understand that, but still. Like you said, he was drunk, and didn't know what he was doing," Ashley replied quietly.

"Hold up a minute. Are you defending him?" Adam asked furiously."No, I'm just telling you what I saw. He was out of his senses Adam," Ashley responded curtly.

"I don't know why I'm arguing this with you. It's been a long and dram filled day. I say we just head back to the hotel and get some rest," Adam said a bit amicably, not wanting to fight anymore with Ashley over what had happened.

"Fine. Don't we need to look around for Mickie and Chris?" Ashley asked more friendly, and less curtly this time when answering Adam.

"We sure do. I don't think I want to end up responsible for them not showing up at the house show tomorrow," Adam answered back.

"Okay, just let me call her," Ashley said.

"Hey this is Mickie," Mickie answered her phone, without bothering to see who the person calling her was.

"Hey Micks. Where are you?" Ashley asked one of her best friends.

"Um, I'm at the hotel. Chris and I got a ride from Ken," Mickie stated nervously.

"Oh, okay. That means Adam and I will ride together," Ashley said not too enthusiastically.

"Is everything okay?" Mickie asked worried over her friend's sad tone.

"Yeah tell you later. Wait, Chris is there with you right? I wasn't going to ask, but I didn't want to come at a wrong moment," Ashley told Mickie.

"Yeah he is. I'm so sorry Ashley. I talked to Melina when I bumped into her in the hotel's hallway, and she said you could share with her. She has another bed and everything. Ashley? Are you listening to me? Ashley!!" Mickie screamed, making Ashley get out of her thoughts.

"No problem. I'll see ya tomorrow," Ashley said and hung up the phone.

"So what happened?" Adam asked calmly.

"Mickie made plans with Chris tonight, and now I have to stay with Melina. That was my room too," Ashley frowned thinking about how this night had gone from great to horrible.

"I'm sorry," Adam sincerely told Ashley.

"Okay, I'm tired. Can we go now please?" Ashley asked sleepily.

"Right sorry," Adam apologized.

The car ride through town was extremely quiet. Unlike the first one that had been filled with laughter and happiness, this one was full of sorrow and pain on both parts. Both Ashley and Adam were thinking about the fight, but for different reasons. Ashley kept replaying the incident in her head, still not understanding how it had gotten out of hand. Adam, who was usually a calm and educated person, was thinking that if Cena crossed him again, Adam would kill him. Before they knew it, had gotten to the hotel. Ashley waited for Adam to stop the car so she could get out. When he did, she got out, and left without another word to the current World Heavyweight Champion.

Walking inside the hotel, the first thing that she noticed was the clock. It read 1:30 am. _I'm going to be so tired tomorrow_ Ashley thought. Because Ashley was afraid of elevators, she chose the chose the long way up. When she was about to start climbing the stairs to go to up to the room Melina was gracious enough to share after Mickie decided to have her fun with Chris, she heard a hard knock on the door leading to the outside. She turned around, and made sure she wasn't dreaming. There, standing outside were Hunter and John Cena who was clinging onto him like a teddy bear. Arguing with her conscience, Ashley made the decision to open the door for them. Hunter had stopped beading a jerk after all, and it wouldn't be fair to let him stay out just because he was helping John Cena out. She opened the door and let both men in.

"I feel sick," John complained, apparently not seeing Ashley was standing next to her, her eyes wide at his appearance.

His hair was ruffled, his shoes were off, being held ever so nicely by Hunter, his face was red, and his left eye was getting swollen at the minute.

"I think he needs some help, nut he refuses to go to the hospital and kept saying something about you." Hunter said, looking Ashley sternly in the eyes.

"I-Uh-Well I don't think so, I need to get to bed, and it's late." Ashley stuttered.

"Come on Ash, please?" John said. The alcohol was slowly wearing off. "You know that I wouldn't let anything happen to you, Please Ash, just help me. I need you." He mumbled. Ashley felt a little tug at her heart. She bit her lip. She began to argue with the voices in her head telling her to take him in, the other half of her telling her to just leave him there. "Come on Ash. What does Adam have that I don't have?" He questions, his blue eyes sparkled. Hunter looked back and forth between the two with a shocked expression on his face, his jaw agape.

"He doesn't have anything that I want in a man." Ashley confessed.

"Well then why are you always with him? You've been hanging around him so much lately Ash, and it worries me. Do you know what kind of man he is? Sure he is nice to your face. But wait until your back is turned or when he wants something from you. Just please Ash, give me a chance." His eyes saddened and she could tell it really was hurting him on the inside. She felt bad for him. Her heart won her over once again and she sighed.

"Bring him in Hunter." She went to the bed and pulled toe covers down for him. Hunter set him down on the bed lightly. Ashley knelt beside John on the floor and looked him over. He had a few bruises on his face and definitely had a black eye. She felt his forehead just to make sure he wasn't running a temperature on top of it all.

"Uhm yeah I'm gonna go get some ice." Hunter said quickly.

"Hold your horses mister." Ashley said, "Don't leave me here by myself." Hunter groaned but plopped himself down onto the couch and slouched like mad little boy. Ashley went back to looking John over but came back with no more injuries. She sighed. She realized she was going to have to have Hunter go down and get some ice. John's left eye was swelling badly and quickly.

"Hunter, you're going to have to go get some ice." She sighed. Hunter jumped up quickly.

"I thought you'd never ask." He smiled and hurried out the door.

Ashley turned back to John and smiled. "Where does it hurt?" She asked.

"Here." he said pointing to his eye. Ashley placed a soft kiss on his eye.

"Anywhere else?" She asked.

John nodded. "Here." He said, pointing to his heart. Once again Ashley placed a soft kiss on the spot he pointed to.

"Any other spots?" Ashley questioned.

"Just one, here." He pointed to his lips. Ashley lowered her head and let her lips gently push against Johns. John's lips felt smooth and soft on hers. Within seconds she found her self wanting more and began to hungrily kiss John.

"They didn't have the big -Whoa! I take that as my cue to leave." Hunter said quickly and turned on his heel, shutting the door behind him.

When they broke the kiss John looked at Ashley with loving his, his eyes were full of love for her. He gently caressed her cheek.

"I love you Ash." He whispered. He gently took her hand, which had been at the side of the bed, and put her hand between his very smooth, not very large hard and calloused hands, which had a soft touch to them.

"John I don't know what to say," Ashley said a bit nervously as she bit her lip hard. Those three words were the best and the worst three words any one could ever say.

"Anything you want Ashley, just please say something," John begged her. She had been quiet for a few minutes, and it was worrying him.

"I," Ashley took a deep breath, and prepared to say what she has always dreamed about telling The Doctor of Thuganomics John Cena, but then decided against it, and began telling him other things, still on the "I love you" topic. . "I care about you John, I really do. It's just that I -- this is hard for me. This is complicated to explain. Okay, let me start at the beginning. John, ever since I met you, you where someone I could trust, someone I could confide in, and wouldn't judge me. Then as you know, after your injury, we didn't talk. I become dependant on other people too. I opened my horizons and chose my friends carefully this time. Even though you hurt me, I still worry and care about you John. It hurts me to see you hurt, or in pain but don't think it's easy to be sitting here with you after all this time, because it's not. I just can't avoid you forever now, because you do exist John," Ashley told him softly gazing into his lovingly stare.

"Thank you Ash. Your words just proved that I still have hope. I'm sorry about everything I did to you that day. It's been in my head ever since, nagging me. I've been wanting to apologize for it ever since I said that to you. I never meant any of that. It's just that to have you there while I was hurt and weak, it killed me," John told Ashley looking at her reaction for any sign of madness, which he never found.

"I know I could see it in your eyes when you were talking about it right now.

As to what you said to me, I forgave you for that……eventually. It took me a while, but I understood part of the pain you were going through at that moment. Certainly, I've never had an injury as big or serious as you, but I know I didn't want anyone with me when I found out I had been hurt. Still, you stayed with me; helping me through my rehabilitation, which will always mean the world to me," Ashley stated grateful for the darkness, as she was now about to break in tears.

"You were my best friend Ashley, what was I supposed to do? Leave you when you needed me the most? "John wondered.

"Well, you didn't, so I owe you a thank you for that. Most of the time, you have always done the right thing," Ashley spoke quietly.

"What do you mean most of the time?" John asked, starting to get tense.

"I mean that most of the time, your judgment is right, and good," Ashley spoke slowly.

"Explain that please," John requested Ashley to emphasize on what she was talking about.

"I'm talking about you and your decisions. There are times John where your ego gets in the way of the difference between what's actually right, and what you think it right," Ashley said quietly.

"I'm still not following you, Ash," John replied, as he propped himself up on one elbow and tilted his head to see Ashley better. He thought that he and Ashley were getting somewhere, taking baby steps to rebuild their friendship. But now it seemed as if they had hit another wall. Ashley sounded kind of angry, and if John wasn't mistaken, kind of hurt also. He wasn't exactly sure what he had done to make Ashley angry, except for the scene he had caused earlier in the club, but he wanted to do his best to make things right again. The kiss they had shared only a few moments ago gave John hope that he and Ashley would be able to resume the relationship they had once had, though it would take quite a bit of time to get to that point again. Seeing Ashley in the club, dancing with Adam, had made John realize how much he missed Ashley being in his life, and he would do anything to have her back with him again. Of course, he knew that he couldn't just expect Ashley to come back to him like that. He was willing, though, to go the distance and prove to Ashley that he was indeed a changed man.

Ashley sighed and ran a hand through her short blonde hair. "I'm talking about how you acted in the club earlier tonight. When you saw me dancing with Adam…why did you come up to us and make a big scene? We were just having a good time, dancing together. You know, as friends? Friends can dance together," she said indignantly. She hadn't meant for the words to come out in a hateful tone, but she was still angry about how John had acted earlier that night. Not only had he embarrassed himself, but he had embarrassed her as well. His actions had reminded her exactly why they were no longer together. John had a temper sometimes, and sometimes acted before he thought which lead to trouble later on. Sure, she had been dancing with Adam. So what? She'd just been having harmless fun. Adam knew that she didn't have those kinds of feelings for him…didn't he? Ashley was so confused; she didn't know what to think anymore.

John caught the tone in Ashley's voice and tried to remain calm as he spoke, but he could feel the anger building up inside him. He spoke slowly, making sure not to say anything that would upset Ashley further.

"It sure didn't look like you were dancing like friends do," he said. "It looked to me like ya'll were really getting into it. You were grinding up against Adam, and don't think I didn't see where his hands were. He was all over you, Ashley. Is that the way friends behave when they dance? 'Cause I sure don't think I've ever seen friends dance like that before." He instantly regretted it as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Now Ashley was going to think he was jealous of Adam, and that wasn't the case at all. In fact, it couldn't be further from the truth. To John, Adam was the lowest form of human possible. The guy was a jerk, who resorted to what John thought were underhanded, dirty tactics to get what he wanted. There was a reason they called him "The Ultimate Opportunist", at least John thought so. If Adam was that way in his professional life, then there was a good chance that he was like that in his personal life, too. John didn't mean to sound jealous; he was only looking out for Ashley. But he knew she wouldn't take it that way. Sighing, John rubbed a hand over his eyes and tried to speak.

"Ash, look, I didn't mean it like that," he said softly. He wrapped his strong arms around the blonde and pulled her closer to him. He placed a kiss on top of her forehead and smoothed her hair back. "What I meant to say was, I was just trying to look out for you. Adam's not exactly known for being loyal to his partners. I just wanted to make sure he didn't try anything with you." John hooked his finger under Ashley's chin and tilted it up, catching her eyes with his. "The last thing that I want is for you to get hurt. Believe me; I wasn't trying to cause any trouble. You were my main concern. I could care less about Adam and what he thinks about me. I just need to know that you understand where I was coming from."

Ashley remained quiet for a moment, and John was afraid that she was going to tell him to leave when she did speak. But Ashley didn't. When she spoke, her voice was soft and she kept her eyes on the bedspread, not wanting to look at John.

"See, that's what I was trying to tell you earlier. Your heart's in the right place, and I know that your intentions are good. But you have a really bad temper sometimes, John, and you don't think before you act. You let your pride and your ego get in the way. Like tonight. You say that you were just trying to look out for me, but you ended up causing a huge scene. I appreciate you looking out for me, John, I really do, but I didn't need it tonight. I could have handled the situation. Besides," Ashley continued, "I don't think that Adam was hitting on me at all. Like I told you, we're just friends. I don't have those kinds of feelings for him."

John scoffed. He hadn't meant for it to be audible, but he couldn't resist. He just could not understand why Ashley was taking up for Adam Copeland. The guy was a jerk, plain and simple. It seemed to him that Adam was only trying to get in Ashley's pants, and then he'd leave her like he did so many other girls. It also made John mad that Ashley couldn't see Adam for what he really was--a jerk who was only interested in her body. He didn't care about getting to know her as a person, or at least that's how John felt.

"Ash, can I ask you something?" John asked, thinking carefully of how to say what had been bothering him for the last hour.

Ashley nodded, and John continued speaking. "Seriously, Ashley….what do you see in him? The guy's an ass, a horndog. You know that after he gets what he wants from you, he'll just dump you and move on to the next girl. It's like a game with him--see how many girls he can sleep with or whatever. I know you can take care of yourself. But this guy's different. He knows exactly what to say to charm you, to get in your pants. He's real smooth." John reached for Ashley's hand, lacing his fingers with hers. "He wouldn't treat you the way you deserve to be treated. In the end, you'd only end up getting hurt. You'd look like a fool."

Ashley's face turned red at that and John knew that he'd made a mistake. But it was too late to say anything now. He closed his eyes; almost sure of what was coming. She was going to yell at him, he knew it. But he had already said it, so there was nothing he could do about it now.

"_I_ would look like a fool?" Ashley almost screamed at John. "You are the one who got drunk and embarrassed yourself in front of me and everyone tonight! You are the one who just couldn't leave me and Adam alone, and had to start a fight. So don't tell me that I would look like a fool, John, after what you pulled tonight. You're lucky that Hunter was there, or you might have gotten hurt even worse."

"I said I was sorry!" John yelled back, not caring about whether or not anyone heard them. "I was just looking out for you! But if you don't want me to do that, then I won't. Geez, I'm sorry. My mistake for caring about you, right?"

The two of them had been making so much commotion that they didn't notice that Hunter was there in the room until he cleared his throat, in an attempt to get them to stop yelling. Ashley looked up at the noise and saw Hunter standing next to the door, his arms folded over his chest. She just glared at him, as if to say, _What are you doing here?_ John was still looking at Ashley, his mouth open and his face a dark shade of red. He was about to say something else to her until Hunter spoke up.

"Guys, that's enough," he said firmly. "I could hear you all the way out in the hall. Now, what's going on here? Why are you two screaming at each other?"

Ashley got up and walked over to the nightstand where her cell phone lay. She picked it up and began to dial Melina's number. It was late, but she didn't feel like staying and arguing with John any longer. She was exhausted, and just wanted to go to sleep. That probably wasn't going to happen anytime soon unless she left.

"What are you doing?" Hunter asked Ashley curiously.

"I'm calling Melina. I can't deal with this anymore," Ashley said angrily. "I'm tired and I need to get some sleep for tomorrow. I can't stay up all night arguing with John about what he **thinks** he saw me and Adam doing in the club. I should have known he would do this."

Hunter looked at John. "Didn't I tell you what would happen if you went about this the hard way? Did you not listen to a thing I said in the club?"

John shook his head angrily and pointed to Ashley. "Come on, Hunter; don't make me out to be the bad guy! You saw how Adam was acting to Ashley. He had his hands all over her!"

"So what? Even if you think his hands were all over Ashley, it wasn't your business. From what I've seen, Ashley can handle herself really well. If, and this is hypothetically speaking, say she would have had troubles with Copeland, there were a whole group of people surrounding her. Someone could have easily helped her out. You didn't have to go and make a huge scene," Hunter said sternly.

"Thank you. That's what I've been trying to tell him, but since he's so stubborn, he's not listening to me," Ashley said, ignoring John.

"Hello," Melina finally answered in a bored tone.

"Hey Mel. Sorry to bother you this late, but can you come pick me up? Mickie switched room, but she didn't tell me where you are," Ashley said remembering the original reason for her exasperation.

"Sure, I'm not too happy about it either. Not the part where you have to stay with me because I enjoy your company. I didn't like the fact she out of the blue decided this. If she knew she would've done something like that, the best thing to do would have been to tell us beforehand," The A-list Diva replied.

"I'm not too happy about it either, but you know that's Mickie for ya," Ashley responded.

"It sure is. So out of curiosity since I'll be picking you up, in whose room are you in?" Melina asked curiously.

"Um, I'm in room 204," Ashley said quietly.

"Oh cool, we're on the same floor. I'll be there in a minute; I just have to put a robe on. I don't want to have people staring at me," Melina giggled.

"You mean any more than they already do when you're in the ring?" Ashley asked The Paparazzi Princess.

"You're real funny Ash. You know I don't want the type of attention that Kelly gets. I'm in wrestling for the fighting, not to excite men with what I'm wearing like Kelly does," Melina stated; using the blonde she didn't get as an example of what she wasn't.

"Tell me about it," Ashley said.

"Okay Ashes, I'm on my way," Melina said, making sure she had her keys with her.

"Thank you Mel. I'm sorry for bugging you though," Ashley spoke quietly.

"Oh honey, don't worry about it, you weren't bugging me. I was watching television because I couldn't sleep," Melina assured.

"Well then, it isn't much of a loss for tonight right?" Ashley joked.

"Yup," Melina agreed.

No more than five seconds later, Ashley heard a knock on the door. Hunter opened the door, and saw Melina, with her cell phone in her hand. He looked at her, and then at Ashley who was nodding so he would let her in, and he did.

"Oh, hey Hunter." Melina as she came into the room. "Oh, John, I didn't see you there," Melina stated nervously.

"Okay, let's get going. We haven't slept , and we got a plane flight tomorrow," Ashley said, and was about to walk out the room when John started talking.

"Wait Ash, I need to talk to you," John begged.

"Well, too darn bad because I don't have anything to say to you," Ashley responded coldly, then she waved at Hunter, who smiled, and left.

"What the hell was that ?You defended her," John was getting angry now.

"John, you're out of control. You need to calm down. Yelling at Ashley isn't going to solve anything. If you two are having problems, you both need to sit down and talk them out. Fighting isn't getting you guys anywhere." Hunter gave John some advice.

"Whatever man, but I want you to know something. This is in no way your business," John responded.

"See, that's where you're wrong. Ashley is a sweet girl, and doesn't need you to make her life complicated. So, if I find out you've hurt her again, you'll regret it, and mark my words Cena, you'll never do it again ," Hunter warned.

"Who do the hell do you think you are to warn me? A year ago, you hated Ashley?" John remembered all those times Ashley would cry because of Hunter's bullying.

"Look Cena. Like you said, that was a year ago. And, I have apologized to Ashley for it, and you can bet I won't do that again," Hunter spoke slowly and quietly.

"Right, and you're prince charming for her now?" John mocked, not playfully, but bitterly, because Ashley was on good terms with Hunter who had hurt her, but not with him, even though he had helped her so many times before.

"Cena, I have patience, but it's running out right now. You better stop being stupid, or I will do something to you, and I won't regret it," Hunter told John.

"You think I'm scared of you? Boy, I've been here longer than you, and you don't scare me," Hunter growled.

"And are you supposed to scare me? Am I supposed to bow down to you because of your position with the company? Or maybe because I've been so stupid this time?" John was murmuring to himself now.

"You've been too stupid to see what Cena?" Hunter asked, looking at John curiously, because he didn't look like those people that talked to themselves.

"That all this time you've been sleeping with Ashley behind everyone's back," John said furiously, truly believing what he was saying.

"I've been what-- you're just being stupid," Hunter spluttered.

""Am I?" John asked, taking a step closer to Hunter. "That's what it seems like, anyway. But if you know what's going on, please, enlighten me."

"Yes Cena. You may think that we are, but it's not true. We're just friends," Hunter contradicted.

"Just friends?" John scoffed. "I don't believe you. How can I know you're telling the truth?"

Hunter crossed his arms over his chest and replied, "Because I'm not the one you need to be worrying about. Adam is the one you can't trust...he's been sleeping with Ashley."


	4. Feelings

_**A/N: I hope you guys like this. I'm sorry for the delay. I really am. The Draft has passed. However, with the exception of Triple H, everyone else was moved to the brands they are in at the moment.**_

_**Thank you to my lovely reviewers my twinny Super T, xAttitudex, Kat RoadKill, and jojocheer28.**_

_**Additional thank you to my twinny Super T. Thank you for all the help you gave to me while on MSN. You have no idea how much I appreciate it, I don't have the words to explain how much you mean to me twinny. Thanks twinny. Love ya!**_

_**Summary : **__" He's used to being the top dog on Raw, and along that, comes the million of women who throw themselves at him. Now John must fight for the attention of the one woman who has secretly had his heart"_

_**The Butterfly Effect Chapter 4**_

* * *

_Previous chapter: "Am I?" John asked, taking a step closer to Hunter. "That's what it seems like, anyway. But if you know what's going on, please, enlighten me."_

"_Yes Cena. You may think that we are, but it's not true. We're just friends," Hunter contradicted._

_"Just friends?" John scoffed. "I don't believe you. How can I know you're telling the truth?"_

_Hunter crossed his arms over his chest and replied, "Because I'm not the one you need to be worrying about. Adam is the one you can't trust...he's been sleeping with Ashley."_

**Chapter three **

John hadn't slept in those 7 hours after Hunter had left him. He lay in bed thinking about how he and Ashley would have been a couple if it wasn't for his stupid pride. He thought about yesterday's events, and how Ashley had helped him, then he started accusing her of things. How he got mad, and Ashley ended up dancing with Adam, not him. Because he had drank so much, certain parts were a bit fuzzy. Not to mention he practically called Hunter a manipulator. Hearing a knock on the door, John used this as an excuse to stop his self-pitying morning.

To his great surprise, it was Hunter.

"Hey kid. Still hung-over?" the current WWE Champion asked.

"A little." John admitted.

"After what you drank, I'm not too surprised." the older man said.

"Yeah, I guess. But, I am a little hurt actually because of you." John told Hunter.

"Why?" Hunter asked, quite surprised by this revelation.

"Because you were blunt. I had no "Good morning or how'd you sleep." John said.

Hunter rolled his eyes, and spoke. "Fine you little whiny girl. How was your morning? Did you sleep well last night? Happy now?" Hunter looked at John for an answer.

"My morning sucked. I couldn't sleep and I kept thinking about yesterday. No, I'm not happy. For a while now, every time I talk to Ashley now, it seems all I do is get her mad or hurt her. I don't want to be like that, but ever since I found out she's friends with Copeland, I get mad." John said quietly.

"Why? I mean, they're just friends. Plus, he hasn't done anything bad to her. And I'm not talking about what you think is bad. This is about him and her, not you and him." Hunter looked at John, and saw his face change into one of a shocked person. "I know that, but are you defending him? He screwed his best friend over, and slept with the guy's girlfriend. Is that what you call good? Or is that even what a good man would do?" John asked incredulously.

"No, I 'm not defending him. But since then, have you actually talked to Copeland?" Hunter shot back.

"No, but I don't have to. I've heard what people say about him? Is that what you want for your new friend Ashley?" John looked at Hunter.

"So you're just going to trust what you hear? Rumors are usually false John. You never know, he might not be so bad." Hunter replied and began to look outside of John's window and down at the people outside in the pool the hotel had.

"Well," John couldn't reply because Hunter did have a point.

"What? Found out I have a point?" Hunter teased.

"Yeah." John admitted.

"Look John, I am sorry about what happened last night, but you did have it coming. You literally attacked Ashley. Just know that the more you hurt her, the more you push her away from you. " Hunter said matter of factly. He let John absorb these news, and left.

* * *

**Meanwhile with Ashley…**

"Hey sleepyhead. Wake up." Melina shook her friend, and heard her groan.

"Why? It's too early for this." Ashley whined.

"Maybe for you because you aren't a morning person, but it is 10 in the morning, you know." Melina told her blonde friend.

"Shut up. It's still early." Ashley argued.

"Because you had a late night?" Melina asked, smirking.

"It wasn't even like that Mel." Ashley said, and smacked her friend with a pillow.

"Then what was it?" the Latina beauty inquired.

"Nothing," Ashley replied, not looking at her best friend. Melina wasn't having it, though, and grabbed her best friend's arm roughly.

"What, Mel?" Ashley asked, annoyed.

Melina rolled her eyes and said, "You really expect me to believe that all you and John did last night was talk? Come on, spill the beans. Tell me the good stuff. I won't tell anyone, I promise." Melina winked.

Melina looked at her friend thoughtfully. "I know you probably don't want to hear this, Ash, but for once, John might be right. I know you think he was overreacting, but you need to be careful of Adam. He's not exactly the nicest guy, you know. From what I've heard, he's a pig."

Ashley looked at Melina and spoke carefully, as if she didn't want to say this, but she did anyway. "No he's not, he's actually very nice. But, who do you think you are to tell me that You messed up a long-term relationship you had with Johnny. The man you're with wrote about it in his book. What kind of relationship is that Certainly not a good one if the man decided to tell the world about what he does with you. I mean, Batista's know for being a womanizer. What makes you think you'll be one to last him more than what, a few months?"

Melina looked hurt. She couldn't believe that the woman she considered her closest friend could say something so vicious. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and she wiped them away angrily. "Look, Ashley, I'm just looking out for you. If you don't want me to, that's fine. But I know for a fact that Adam is a 'love 'em and leave 'em' kind of guy. I don't want you to get into this relationship and fall in love with Adam and then get hurt when he leaves you, because sooner or later, he will leave you. All that matters to him is sex, and once he gets that, he will dump you like all the others. Do you really think it'll be different this time?"

Melina narrowed her eyes. "Why don't you ask Lita? I'm sure she can tell you all about it."

"And as for the situation with Dave, well--I made a stupid mistake, and I'm still paying for it. I don't want you to make the same mistakes that I did." She lowered her eyes. "Don't you think I regret what I did to Johnny every day? Don't you think it hurts me whenever I see him? That's exactly why he was drafted to ECW. Seeing me every week was too painful for him."

Ashley stayed quiet for a minute and spoke softly. "I'm sorry Melina, I really am. I didn't mean it," and as she saw Melina raise her eyebrows, she continued. "Well, maybe I did, but it was just a little. You hurt me with what you said. Above everything else, you know I defend my friends. I like Adam, I really do. I didn't want to hurt you Mel. I feel terrible."

Melina hiccupped and sighed, pulling her best friend into a hug. "I know you didn't, Ash. It's okay." She smiled. "And I wasn't trying to hurt you, I was trying to protect you. I love you and I don't want to see you get hurt." She sighed. "Just be careful, okay? If you do decide to get serious with Adam, you need to know what you're getting into. Remember that I'm here anytime you need me. And if Adam hurts you, I'll break his nose," Melina joked.

"I will. Thank you for caring. I know you're just looking out for me, which I appreciate. Just give this a chance with this, please?" Ashley asked.

Melina sighed again. "Okay, but only because you are my best friend and I can see how much this means to you." She ruffled her best friend's hair. "Now, what's the agenda for today?"

"Thank you Mel. It means a lot. "As for what's on the agenda for today, I don't know. You tell me. What do you want to do" Ashley looked at her friend for an answer.

Melina shrugged.. "Anything in particular you wanna do? I thought that maybe we could go shopping, get something to eat, and then come back around 3 or 4. That okay with you?"

"Yes, I'm fine with that. It's no problem. It'll give me a reason to stop thinking about last night." Ashley said gratefully.

Melina smiled. "All right, then. I'm gonna go take a quick shower and get ready, and then we can go, Do you need the shower first?"

"No, you can go first. I'll play Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 in the meantime." Ashley smiled at Melina.

"All right chica, thanks," Melina said, as she grabbed two towels and a washcloth. "I won't take too long, I promise. Don't get into any trouble while I'm in the shower," she teased.

Ashley made a face and stuck her tongue out at the Latina beauty.

" I won't, I mean how much trouble can you get in while playing Smackdown vs. Raw 2008" Ashley wondered.

Melina rolled her eyes. "You know what I meant, Ash. Don't call John and invite him over here to 'play' with you. No boys allowed."

She smiled to let her friend know she was just joking, and then made her way into the bathroom to take her shower. The quicker she finished, the quicker she and Ashley would be able to leave for the day.

_"Haha, call John over? With the way things are going, I wouldn't even think of talking to him, much less invite him over." _Ashley thought to herself. Then, she turned on the wrestling game, looking at each player carefully, and making her choice. She chose a Ladder, and decided to play as the legendary Bret Hart. She put her opponent on random, and got The Heartbreak Kid.

"I'm gonna kick your butt!" Ashley screamed, jumping up and down and concentrating really hard on it. Ashley was so wrapped up in winning the match that the time got away from her, and before she knew it, Melina was standing above her, looking down at her with a quizzical look on her face. "Having fun?" she asked. Ashley jumped, not expecting Melina to have finished her shower so soon.

"Haha, I can see that. Go caught up in that game didn't ya girlie" the two time Women's Champion teased.

Ashley blushed a bit, but regained her composure quickly. "Nah, I was just messing around," she replied. She set the controller down and got to her feet. "So are you finished in the bathroom? I'm gonna go touch up my makeup before we go."

Melina looked at Ashley suspiciously and began talking."Right. Well, you sure got yourself ready fast. Hurry up okay We got a lot of shopping to do."

Ashley looked down at her outfit. "I think this looks fine. You know I don't like to get all dressed up." She looked back at her best friend as she walked into the bathroom. "I won't take too long, I swear."

"If you say so, although knowing you, you just might." Melina sat on the bed, and resumed the game the self- proclaimed Dirty Diva had begun.

Ashley applied some glitter to her face and around her eyes, giving her a cat-like look, and some eyeliner before heading back to Melina for a morning of fun. She was a little bit apprehensive, but also ready to just go out and have a good time and get the whole situation with John off her mind.

* * *

**Back with John **

"Hey John." Randy said once John had stepped out of his bathroom, and was done with his shower.

"Holy crap. What you doing here? How did you get in? How long have you been here?" John rambled on seeing as Randy had just popped out of nowhere it seemed as he had been in the shower.

"I'm here because we're gonna go out." Randy announced.

"We're what?" John asked because he was confused.

"We're going to go out moron." Randy repeated slowly.

"Yes, I heard that idiot, but what I mean is that what makes you think I'm in the mood for going out?" John asked.

"Well, I know you're not in the mood, which is why we're going to the mall." Randy said proudly.

"And, is this just another chance for you to show yourself off and have all the little pubescent teenage girls gawk at you? And flirt with you? Or, are we actually going to a mall where I don't have to get away because of the Amber alert that was set off because we can't find you in the pool of girls swarming you?" John knew what his best friend was like, and didn't need this right now.

"This is just some friend time between us and the guys." Randy said innocently.

"Okay dillweed. Let's get going then." John said and walked out of his hotel room, with Randy right behind him.

**At the ma****ll**

"No, I did not bat a baseball inside and break Samantha's favorite green vase." Randy insisted.

"Yes, you did junior. I was there, remember?" Chris smirked.

"No, I do not. You're crazy man." Randy pouted."Nope, Chris isn't crazy. You invited all of us." John contradicted.

"Oh, you're the one to talk." Randy turned around and looked at his best friend with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hunter asked, raising his eyebrow.

"It means I at the very least can cook." Randy smirked.

"Oh yeah? Well, you don't see me breaking things and then getting yelled at by my wife." John stammered as the rest of the guys hollered.

"Wait, you can't cook Cena?" Ken asked surprised."Hey! Hey, I have one too" He said as he held his hands in the air and shook his head

"Children, I'm telling you. They act like children." Hunter muttered quietly to Shawn Michaels as he let out a hearty laugh.

"I have to agree." Shawn said under his breath.

"Hey! Getting on topic, no, John can't cook. He burned brownies last time. Left them charcoal black. He forgot about them, and just let them burn." Randy laughed."Oh yeah, You're a real Betty Crocker, aren't ya Cena?" Hunter joked as he nudged Shawn into a laugh.

"Shut up! And don't make fun of the Champ." John protested.

"Ex-Champ Johnny boy. I'm WWE Champion now." Hunter reminded.

Fine, why do you have to rub it in Poopyhead?" John mumbled to himself.

This started a bragging war between all 6 WWE Superstars.

* * *

At this same time, Ashley was in the same mall John along with Hunter, Chris Jericho, Ken, Shawn Michaels, and Randy Orton were just getting inside of, unbeknownst to her.

Ashley went inside Hot Topic, and bought some skull bandanas, and some start-studded belts that had stars looking much like that of the Rated-R Superstar's tattoo. She saw her friends, Mickie, Beth, and Melina sitting outside and drinking smoothies.

She walked out of the door, but then squealed, and in the process, dropping her Hot Topic bad, and her two Victoria's Secret bags.

Jeff Hardy was standing right in front of her, with his blonde and blue hair and all. He was wearing baggy black pants and a white muscle shirt.

"Jeff!" Ashley ran up to The Legend Thriller and wrapped herself around his body.

Unfortunately, this was seen by the girls, which really wasn't the problem. The problem, was that the men had seen it too. Which meant it had sent John Cena into a fit of rage as he wished that was him.


	5. Chapter 5

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* * *

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A/N: Did I do it? Did I actually take less than a month to update? Gasps Lol, I'm kidding. I didn't feel too good, hence the reason I haven't updated sooner. But, I do hope you enjoy this chapter. I decided to put a character by the name of Liz in here. Now, for those who are John Cena fans, you know that there is a real Liz out there, and I don't know her, or is this her. My Liz is an OC, who in no way is John's Liz. So, this is not something I did to put my feelings for that Liz out there, because I don't know her. The one here is just a figment of my imagination.

**Normal Disclaimer: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, or any of it' superstars I might use on here. They all own themselves. With the exception of the WWE, which is owned by Vince McMahon. The only person I own is Clare Massaro. As you can guess, this is my own version of Ashley's daughter. I just put it to add more drama. If it bothers anyone, please let me know.**

**Thank you to the people who have reviewed this story. Those people being Kat RoadKill, my twinny, berrycharismatic, xAttitudex, and Prince of Punk. Your reviews mean a lot! **

_**Summary : **__" He's used to being the top dog on Raw, and along that, comes the million of women who throw themselves at him. Now John must fight for the attention of the one woman who has secretly had his heart."_

_Previous chapter: "Jeff!" Ashley ran up to The Legend Thriller and wrapped herself around his body._

_Unfortunately, this was seen by the girls, which really wasn't the problem. The problem, was that the men had seen it too. Which meant it had sent John Cena into a fit of rage as he wished that was him._

* * *

**The Butterfly Effect Chapter 5**

"I still can't believe you're here." Ashley said, jumping up and down.

"Ash, calm down, you're gonna break something darlin." Jeff laughed at Ashley's bouncy behavior.

Melina, who wasn't one that liked getting ignored, fake coughed in order to remind the pair that there was other people there.

Ashley, who knew this was something Melina did, got embarrassed.

"Sorry Mel." she apologized.

"For what?" Melina asked, feigning innocence.

"Never mind." Ashley sighed.

"Okay." Melina smirked.

"So, what brings you here Jeff?" Chris Jericho asked.

"Same thing that brings Ken here." Jeff smiled." Naw, I'm kidding." he said once he saw Ken's sudden serious expression.

"What's going on guys?" Shawn asked.

"What do you mean?" Ken Kennedy asked nervously.

"Well, Jeff was obviously kidding, but you turned serious." Hunter explained.

"Yeah, and you're not a serious one." Randy put in.

"Whatever." Ken muttered, and walked away from Chris, Shawn, Randy, Melina, Mickie, Beth Phoenix, and Ashley confused. Jeff on the other hand, felt bad, knowing the reason Ken Kennedy had walked away.

"Uh, hey guys, where's John?" Beth asked because she had seen the look John had gotten when he saw Jeff and Ashley, but now, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Here I am." John said, as he walked hand in hand with a blonde all of them knew and disliked.

"Liz." all eight groaned inwardly.

"Hey guys." the 5'2 New Jersey native greeted with fake enthusiasm and a smile to go with it, John, who was just staring at Liz intensely, took no notice of her fake "charm", as if enchanted by her presence.

Mickie was the first to speak up. "Um, hi Liz. It's a pleasure to see you. What brings you here?" Mickie asked, trying to seem polite, which got small and discreet sniggers from all seven people.

Liz looked at John, who was just looking at her, and paying no attention to his friends. "I came here for John." She clarified, and looked directly at Ashley.

"Well, uh, that's great and everything, but we gotta bounce." Randy told the pair.

"Really? To where?" Liz asked smiling at Randy, who above everyone else, she didn't like as he liked to get in between John and her, and had already hurt her relationship with John by accusing her of cheating on him.

"To the arena. We have a house show. And, we have to look for presents to give Ashley." Hunter informed Liz, even though that lie had just popped into his head.

"Ashley? What for?" Liz asked, narrowing her eyes.

"For her daughter, duh. Clare's birthday passed, it was last month, and at that time, we didn't know about her." Jeff responded.

"Yep, and as much as we would love to stay and chit chat, we can't." Beth smiled, and popped the piece of 5 Rain gum she was chewing in front of Liz.

"Wait, then why is she here?" Liz pointed one of her long claw-like fake, salon done nails at Ashley.

"Because she's going to tell us if what we choose is suitable for her five year-old daughter." Shawn, who was usually a calm person, had to roll his eyes at Liz.

"Right." Liz said, not believing one word of what they were telling her.

"Alrighty, now that that's settled, it's nice to see you Liz. I hope we do this again sometime soon." Ashley said quickly, and to everyone's happiness, grabbed Hunter's hand, and walked away, with everyone quickly following.

"Bye!." Liz called out cheerily.

"Bitch." Ashley, who had heard her, muttered.

The group laughed comfortably and in agreement as they had all tried to be nice to Liz, yet she always went out of her way to be rude to them, well except Hunter.

"So, what is this I hear about ya'll buying gifts for my daughter?" Ashley grinned.

"Sorry about that, it was the first thing that came to mind." Hunter said sheepishly, stuffing his hands in his jeans' pockets.

"That's okay. We got out of there with that lie." Ashley grinned, thankful.

"It doesn't have to be a lie." Beth piped up.

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked.

"Well. We can give your daughter gifts, its no problem." Mickie said.

* * *

**Several hours later…. And now in the arena**…

Jeff Hardy was in what you could call doing a search party. Ever since Ken had disappeared on them in the mall, Jeff hadn't seen him. Hopefully, he was at the arena by now. He bumped into a body, and looked up. He had found Ken.

"Hey man, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jeff asked softly.

Ken shrugged. " I guess."

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said. I really am. I didn't mean to piss you off." Jeff apologized.

"You know I how much I like her, and you played it off as joke Jeff! What I feel for her isn't a joke. I love her, I really do" Ken said earnestly, shocking Jeff who had heard Ken speak of his feelings for her, but never say he loved her.

John Cena walked hand in hand with Liz, and stopped when he saw Vince's office. He knocked on the door and waited for an answer, squeezing his new girlfriend's hand.

"Come in." he heard a female voice say.

"Oh John. What an I do for you?" Stephanie asked, surveying the woman John was holding hands with.

"Who are you? Mr. McMahon's secretary?" Liz asked, narrowing her eyes.

Stephanie laughed then smirked. She got up from where she was sitting, and got real close to Liz's face. "I'm the reason your little boy toy, or whatever he is to you has a job." Stephanie said coldly.

"Wait, isn't that Mr. McMahon?" Liz smirked this time, not knowing who Stephanie was.

"My father," she emphasized. "Is unavailable at this time. However, Shane and I are here to help him. Oh, I forgot you don't know. Sorry." she laughed. "Shane is my brother."

"Did I hear my name?" Stephanie's brother asked, coming into the office himself.

"Shane, we have a uh, what do you call it. Visitor of sorts." Stephanie explained.

Shane took one good look at this petite blonde, and instantly knew she was not good news.

"Okay, so what brings you two here?" he asked.

This time, John spoke up. "Well, I was wondering if uh, Vince would be able to do me a favor, but he's not here." John laughed nervously.

"What is it?" Stephanie asked impatiently, not wanting this woman in the office anymore.

"I was wondering if." John trailed off.

"If what, Cena?" Shane persisted.

"If Liz could stay with us for a while." he said quietly.

Shane and Stephanie looked at each other, and laughed. When she saw that John was serious, Stephanie immediately sobered up.

"Sure she can." Stephanie smiled evilly, John, who was too grossed on his happiness, took no notice. If this horrible woman was going to be here, Stephanie might as well have her fun with this.

"But, she does have to pay for her own expenses." She put it.

Liz looked at John with expectant eyes. Surely, he didn't think she would use her own money.

"I'll pay for it." John insisted.

"Great, now that it's settled, please excuse us. We have business to attend to." Stephanie said sharply.

"Oh, okay, we'll be on our way. Thank you Steph, Shane." John said politely before leaving with Liz.

"Business?" Shane asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, business. I don't like that Liz person, and I'm sure I'm not the only one." Stephanie said with a smile.

"Okay. Go on." Shane insisted.

"I need you to look for Ashley and bring her to me."

"What?" Shane asked incredulously because Steph and Ashley had never been the best of friends.

"Yeah, please find Ashley and tell her I need to talk to her."

* * *

"So, uh, what's Liz like?" Hunter asked Melina, whom he was now in conversation with because he had met the blonde before, but not more than three times, which was less than the others.

"She's vile and she's cruel. Ugh, I cannot stand her!" Melina fumed.

"Hey guys, what are you talking about?" CM Punk, otherwise known as Phil came up to the pair.

"We are talking about John's poor choice of freaking girlfriend." Melina paced.

"Uh, guys, who is that?" Phil asked.

"Liz is John's high school sweetheart, and apparently, his brand new girlfriend." Beth Phoenix, who had been walking up to them piped up.

"What's bad about her?" Phil asked, making the trio laugh.

"She's a snob, quite honestly." Hunter said.

"Who? Liz?" Chris Jericho asked, a small suspicion he knew whom the conversation involved.

"Yep." Melina confirmed.

"Ugh." Chris shuddered.

"She's just not someone you'd get along with. Trust me, we have all tried and failed. Especially Ashley." Melina said sadly.

"What? What did she do to Ash?" Phil asked, concerned over his very good friend.

Melina sighed. "Oh, she was horrible. She insulted Ashley, made fun of her appearance, her taste in music. She even went as far as ripping her clothes for the pay per view she had come to see John in."

"I'd like to see what she thinks of my very nice body art then." Phil said excitedly.

"Or, Katie's attitude." Beth smirked.

"Somebody call me?" the self-proclaimed Queen of Chaos asked.

"Katie!" the five people who were in conversation suddenly screamed with happiness.

* * *

"Hey man." Adam greeted his former Rated-RKO partner.

"Adam." Randy said, and got away from the food in catering to do his manly hug with Adam.

"What are you doing here?" Randy asked.

"I'm going to get some food, duh." Adam slapped Randy on the head.

"Hey! What did I do?" Randy protested.

"You were an idiot." Adam said matter of factly.

Seconds later, both men heard laughter from outside.

"John! Stop it!" Liz whined.

"Aww, come on Lizzy it is not that bad." John said.

They went in the room, as both Randy and Adam's eyes zeroed in the duo holding hands.

Adam raised his eyebrows at the sight.

"You guys together?" Randy asked harshly.

"Yeah." John confirmed, giving his girlfriend a spin proudly to show the two men.

"Congratulations." Adam congratulated.

"Uh, thanks." John said.

Adam walked up to Liz and kissed her hand. "Be careful. You didn't choose the best boyfriend." he warned before walking away.

* * *

"Hey babe. What's up?" Chris Jericho asked his girlfriend, Women's Champion, Mickie James.

"Ugh, nothing." Mickie grunted.

"Well, you look happy." Chris commented.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that Ashley told me Liz came back." Mickie said unhappily.

"Who's Liz?" Chris asked.

"She's this blonde bimbo type that John's apparently fallen in love with, " Mickie rolled her eyes. "She's not John's type at all--she's cruel, conniving, and so fake that it makes me sick. Everyone knows she's a liar and a fraud, but for some reason, John can't see it."

"Well, John's not exactly known for having great taste in women," Chris teased, but sighed when he saw that Mickie wasn't laughing. "Okay, okay, I was only kidding. So she's a gold digging ho, huh? Has anyone told John what they think about Liz?" He cocked his head.

"Well, not at first. We all tried to be nice, but she wa a bitch, Especially to poor Ashley. Long story short, she insulted Ashley, and ripped her clothes which was the only thing she had. But, she borrowed some of mine. Then, we tried to tell him, but he wasn't having it." Mickie said with such a look of disgust.

Chris laughed. "Wait a second, she insulted Ashley and ripped her clothes? So why did you let her borrow some of yours if she did that to your friend?" He was confused.

"How did you approach John about Liz? Did you try to be subtle or just blurt it out like you girls are known to do?" the former Intercontinental Champ asked.

Mickie laughed. "No, silly. Liz ripped Ashley's clothes."

"Hey!" Mickie protested.

"For your information, not only us told John. Some of the guys did too."

"Like who?" Chris said. "Because no one told me about this Liz until earlier. If you'd told me earlier, I could've went and had a talk with John about her."

"Jeff, Shawn, Hunter, and Randy." Mickie listed.

"Like I said, I should have been told first," Chris told Mickie. "They probably all took the wrong approach and just made John even more angry. I, on the other hand, would have been able to get through to John with the subtle approach. He's stubborn, so you can't just tell him what you think and expect him to agree. You gotta find a way to approach it subtly."

Mickie giggled. "Baby, you are the least subtle person I know. You would have probably been the first to scream at John."

Chris smiled and took Mickie's hand. "Yeah, you're probably right. I probably would have screamed at him and called him an assclown and told him how stupid he's being," he replied. "So none of you girls like Liz? Who is she going to be staying with then?"

Mickie snickered. "No one, I think. Because, nobody likes her." Mickie said with a grin.

"Well, where's she going to sleep?" the Canadian asked his girlfriend. "In the ring? She has to be staying in someone's hotel room." He laughed. "Does Stephanie know about Liz?"

"She does." Shane said with a grin. "And, she hates Liz too. Speaking of, have you guy seen Ash?" Shane asked.

"Uh, nope, she went to the mall when I was sleeping. But, knowing her, she should be in the women's locker room."

"Okay, thanks" Shane said and left the room quickly.

"Probably putting on her makeup," Chris mumbled, but Shane didn't hear him. Mickie stepped on his foot, causing Chris to yell, "Ow! What did you do that for?"

"Why are you so hyper?" Mickie hissed. Chris shrugged. "I dunno. Just being silly, I guess. But seriously, do you want me to try and talk to John about Liz? We usually ride back to the hotel together."

"Naw, I don't want to start anything. Let's just leave it alone, for now." Mickie said.

Shane walked the halls in search of the women's locker room. He knocked on the door, and saw Ashley standing there, her ring attire on.

"You have a match tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah, against Katie." she answered.

"Well, that's great, but Steph wants to talk to you."

"About what ?" Ashley replied. She wasn't really very nervous about her match with Katie, and so she didn't understand why Stephanie would need to talk to her. She arched an eyebrow as she spoke.

"Am I in trouble or something?" she asked. She hadn't done anything, not that she knew of anyway, and she and Stephanie didn't exactly talk that much, so the fact that Stephanie needed to see her now struck her as a bit odd.

"No, no, everything's fine," Shane reassured.

"Okay then, let's go." Ashley said as she grabbed Shane's hand and left the locker room.

The duo made their way down the hall toward Stephanie's office, with Ashley still a bit nervous. Shane sensed this and patted the Dirty Diva's arm reassuringly.

"Trust me, Ash, it's nothing bad," he said. "She said she wanted to talk to you about something, and she didn't want anyone else to know. So don't worry." He smiled.

She sighed, and went in to see the Billion Dollar Princess.


	6. A Strange Day

**A/N: Okay, I am SO sorry for not updating sooner. The good thing is that I'll post the next chapter real soon. Oh, and for any John or Ashley fans, I have another story where both are featured. It's called "Tears like Mine". Enjoy! Reviews are appreciated :D**

**Thank you to ****berrycharismatic****, twinny, ****AshMattXoXo****, and Kat RoadKill for reviewing the past chapter. You guys rock!**

**Additional thanks to twinny and Kat. Once again, I appreciate your help and support. You two rock! Love ya!**

**Disclaimer: I own no part of World Wrestling Entertainment, or it's Superstars.**

_**Summary : **__" He's used to being the top dog on Raw, and along that, comes the million of women who throw themselves at him. Now John must fight for the attention of the one woman who has secretly had his heart."_

_**Previous chapter: **__The duo made their way down the hall toward Stephanie's office, with Ashley still a bit nervous. Shane sensed this and patted the Dirty Diva's arm reassuringly._

_"Trust me, Ash, it's nothing bad," he said. "She said she wanted to talk to you about something, and she didn't want anyone else to know. So don't worry." He smiled._

_She sighed, and went in to see the Billion Dollar Princess._

* * *

**The Butterfly Effect chapter 6**

After a few minutes of talking to Shane's younger sister, Ashley felt much better. Unlike what she had thought, this meeting with Stephanie wasn't something bad. Oh no, she liked where this conversation was going. Or, more specifically, the point of the conversation.

"So, are you with me?" Stephanie asked sharply.

"Of course I am." Ashley grinned.

"Perfect." Stephanie smiled back at the Dirty Diva. "Any questions?" she asked.

"Nope, it's simple really." Ashley confessed.

"But, there's something bothering you, isn't there?" Stephanie guessed.

"Yes, it's…" she let the sentence run.

"I know." Stephanie nodded. "But, it's for the best."

"I hope so." Ashley sighed.

Stephanie frowned. She knew Ashley had a good heart, and maybe she shouldn't have asked her. Then again, she already had, and couldn't take it back. However, that didn't stop her from feeling bad.

"Thank you for coming Ashley. You can leave now." the Billion Dollar Princess said kindly, noticing Ashley's fidgeting.

"Thank you Stephanie." Ashley said, and walked out the office.

She looked up, and saw Shane leaning against the wall.

"How'd it go with Steph?" he asked.

"Good." she responded quietly.

"Are you okay?" Shane noticed her quietness, something that was unusual for Ashley.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked quietly.

"I dunno. Did she say something that upset you?"

"No, she didn't. I'm just tired and hungry." Ashley told Shane.

"Oh, okay." Shane said, and dropped the subject, even if he didn't believe what Ashley was saying.

"Oh, that reminds me. Stephanie asked me to tell you that she needs to see you right now."

"Um, will you be all right? I'd hate to make her mad." Shane said jokingly.

"Yeah, I will. Plus, I wouldn't want you to feel the wrath of the Billion Dollar." Ashley teased.

"Ha." Shane smiled at his friend, and began to make his way back to where he originally was.

* * *

Ashley then began to make her walk back to the locker room, and wait for her match with Candice to start.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Little Miss Trashley. And she's all alone. What's wrong Ash? Did your friends finally realize the loser you really are?" Candice sneered.

Ashley rolled her eyes. Really, Candice might have thought that her mean little comment would hurt Ashley's feelings, but it didn't. Ashley knew exactly what kind of girl Candice was. She obviously had low self-esteem, and it made her feel better about herself when she picked on Ashley. It might have made some of the other girls cry, but not Ashley. She could care less what Candice thought. The comment stung a little bit, but not enough to actually hurt her feelings.

Candice smirked. She knew her comment had hit home. "Aww, poor baby Ashley. No one's here for you. You know, I'm glad they saw you for what you really are. A no-class stupid wannabe stripper."

That was it. The "Trashley comment" hadn't really done anything but annoy Ashley, but Candice attacking her personal life and calling her a stripper was going over the line. A growl came from her throat and Ashley lunged for Candice, grabbing her hair and slapping the other woman roughly across the face.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that again, you stupid tramp!" she hissed.

Candice cackled, and rubbed her face. "Or you'll do what?"

Ashley wanted to beat Candice down right then and there, but she knew that it would be better if she saved her aggression for their match in a few minutes. That way, it would seem more real to the audience, and she could just beat the living daylights out of her. She knew that Candice was the one who had no friends, not her, and Ashley doubted that anyone would come to save Candice when she started beating her up.

Seeing Ashley stay quiet, Candice assumed victory. "That's what I thought. You aren't going to hurt me. You're too much of a Ms. Goody Two shoes."

Candice began to walk away, laughing, but then felt herself being pulled by her hair."What the hell?" she yelled.

How dare Ashley mess with her hair? Her beautiful and perfect hair.

"Let go of me!" she screamed shrilly. She'd spent at least twenty minutes on her hair, and now it was being messed up by that stupid wannabe stripper.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Ashley asked.

"Damn it, Ashley, let go of me!" Candice hollered, flailing her arms around in an attempt to hit Ashley, but the Dirty Diva held Candice firmly in place, not loosening her grip on her hair at all.

"Ash?" a new voice called out.

Ashley turned around, still holding onto Candice, and saw Jeff Hardy. He was raising an eyebrow at the sight in front of him.

"What are you doing?" he asked the Dirty Diva.

"Jeff, Jeff!" Candice yelled, still trying to wiggle out of Ashley's grip. "Thank God you're here! Ashley attacked me and now she won't let me go. Help me, please!"

Ashley snorted at what Candice had just said. Did she really think that Jeff was going to believe that Ashley had been the one to start this? He knew Ashley better than that, and besides, Jeff didn't like Candice. No one did, Ashley thought to herself with a laugh.

"Oh really? She started?" Jeff asked with a look of surprise on his face.

Ashley laughed. "Yep, Jeff, I started it. I just love picking on Candice." She rolled her eyes, causing Jeff to laugh.

"She does. I swear she does." Candice wailed.

"Oh, come off it, Candice," Ashley replied, as she finally let go of the woman. "I didn't do anything and you know it. You started it when you called me a stupid wannabe. And the stripper comment.

As soon as Ashley let go of her, Candice scampered off, causing Ashley to laugh.

"I can't believe she had the nerve to say that I was the one who started this." Ashley looked at Jeff and shook her head.

"Jeff, can you come back to the locker room with me? Candice isn't the creepiest person here, and this day just got weird." Ashley asked

"Sure," the Rainbow Haired Warrior replied, gesturing for Ashley to lead the way down the hall to the locker room. "So, thanks for interrupting, but really, I was okay. Candice wasn't giving me any trouble." Ashley said, smiling at Jeff.

"I know you were okay Ash. I could tell. But, Candice wasn't. And, no, I'm not defending her, but this can get you in trouble. She can easily pin it on you, making you look like the bad guy." Jeff reminded her.

Ashley sighed. "I know, Jeff. I didn't mean to let my temper get the best of me, but Candice just made me so mad with those rude comments of hers. I guess I didn't think," the blonde Diva admitted sheepishly.

"You guess?" Jeff teased, and got a reproachful look from Ashley. "Naw, I'm kidding. We all make mistakes. I should know."

It was an uncomfortable subject that Ashley really didn't want to approach, because she didn't quite know what to say. So she turned back to another subject. "Yeah, she was talking about how I had no friends, and that I was a loser and stupid, and I think she also called me Ms. Goody Two-Shoes."

"Ms. Goody Two Shoes, huh? Does she not know we call you "Ms. Dirty Diva"? Just ignore her. She's not worth it."

Jeff reached over and lightly ruffled the younger woman's hair. "Hey!" Ashley laughed in protest.

Ashley was about to say something else, when the sound of footsteps met her ears. She looked over at Jeff, whose smile had now disappeared and had been replaced with a sour look. Ashley knew that look could only mean one thing, and when she looked up, her suspicions were confirmed. Standing there, in front of Jeff and Ashley, was none other than the Rated-R Superstar himself. He casually leaned against the wall, with his famous smirk on his face, and observed the situation for a moment before saying anything. Finally, Jeff broke the silence.

"What are YOU doing here?" he asked, an angry tone lacing his voice.

That smirk that Adam wore grew bigger, and he raked a hand through his hair, before answering. "I'm sorry. Did I break up something important here? Because if you guys were having a private conversation--and by the looks of things, it was--then I'm sorry."

Adam slowly walked over toward Jeff, and got in his face. He looked down at the shorter man, then to Ashley. "Ashley, you might want to remind your boyfriend here who he's talking to," he said slowly and calmly. "You might want to tell him that it's not a good idea to get mouthy with me."

"And you might want to remember that Jeff is my friend. And, if you have a problem with him, you have a problem with me. Because it was you how came up to us, not the other way around. So if you're not going to be nice, leave Adam." Ashley warned.

"Oh, am I keeping you from making out with your little boyfriend here?" Adam asked sarcastically, waving his fingers around. "You two should get a room. And the only reason I came up to you two is because I need to go into the locker room to take a shower, and you're both blocking the door." He looked down at the floor before making his last comment. "I don't care what you do, though, Ashley. If you want to make out with Rainbow Brite over here, that's fine with me. Just don't do it in front of the locker room door.

There was a twinge of jealousy in his voice, but Adam doubted that Ashley would catch it.

Ashley opened her mouth to say something to Adam, but he waved his hand in front of her face, as if to tell her not to even bother.

"Just forget it," he said softly. "I don't even know why I bothered saying anything." The tall man looked at Ashley once more, then gave Jeff a dirty look before moving past him to go into the locker room, slamming the door shut behind him in an act of anger.

"Um, I--" Ashley muttered.

"I think Edge has something for you." Jeff observed quietly.

"What!" Ashley laughed nervously.

"I'm serous." Jeff insisted.

"You're crazy." Ashley told him.

"No, I saw the way he looked at you Ash. Why else would he sound jealous?" he asked her.

"He wasn't jealous." Ashley tried to convince her friend.

"Yes, he was. I don't like it, but I'm not stupid. He likes you Ash."

"No, he doesn't." she protested."Fine, if you say so." Jeff said with a voice that told you he didn't believe Ashley.

Ashley shook her head. "No, Jeff, you're wrong," she insisted. "You must have misunderstood. Adam's just a friend, a very protective one, but just a friend. I'm sure he thought he was just looking out for me." The possibility of Adam liking her didn't even occur to Ashley. In fact, she'd never thought about it before. But obviously Jeff had.

"He knows that I don't feel that way about him, and he's cool with it." Ashley continued. "Besides, why would he have any reason to be jealous if he did like me? He knows that you and I are just really close friends. Why would that bother him? He'd have no reason to be threatened if he did have a thing for me."

"Well, I don't know. Maybe because you dated my brother, and we're very close? Obviously, the man feels threatened." Jeff said, and was not happy with his realization.

"If that's the case," Ashley said, "then Adam knows that being jealous will get him nowhere with me. I don't like people who throw temper tantrums to try and get their way." Ashley looked at Jeff, and noticed that he still had that sour look on his face. She wrapped an arm around Jeff's shoulder and tried to get him to cheer up. "Really, Jeff, I wouldn't worry about what Adam says. He knows that "If that's the case," Ashley said, "then Adam knows that being jealous will get him nowhere with me. I don't like people who throw temper tantrums to try and get their way." Ashley looked at Jeff, and noticed that he still had that sour look on his face. She wrapped an arm around Jeff's shoulder and tried to get him to cheer up. "Really, Jeff, I wouldn't worry about what Adam says. He knows that it doesn't matter to me what he thinks about you. You were my friend first, and if Adam doesn't like that, well, he'll have to get over it." Ashley smiled.

She was happy to see that she'd been successful in getting rid of that sour look Jeff had had on his face, and she punched him lightly on the arm. "Feel better?" she asked. Jeff smiled, a small smile, and Ashley felt better. Adam's behavior HAD been unusual, but she was sure that there was a reason for it. Maybe he'd been having a bad day, or his match hadn't gone good, or something. The point was

that Adam had just been taking out his frustrations on her and Jeff. Ashley hadn't appreciated it, but she didn't think it was because Adam was jealous.

"So, um, this is where I stop. I'm sure the others wouldn't like it if I came in." Jeff said, a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I guess. So, thanks for helping me out Jeff. I appreciate it." Ashley said as she kissed Jeff on the cheek, and hugged him.

Jeff wrapped his arms around the blonde beauty, and squeezed lightly. After pulling away, Ashley looked him in the eyes and said, "I really do appreciate you being here for me, Jeff. You're always here for me, and I can't thank you enough for it." She saw Jeff blush, and she laughed and waved bye to him before going into the Divas locker room to prepare for her match.

* * *

When she got there, she saw the girls chatting excitedly, and Mickie waiting for her.

"So, what did you do to Candice that she came in here looking scared?" Katie Lea Burchill asked.

"Me? What! I never did anything." She told the self-proclaimed Queen of Chaos.

"Uh-huh. That's why she kept muttering your name." Katie said matter-of -factly.

"She did?" Ashley tried not to sound pleased, but she couldn't help it. Maybe that would teach Candice that she should run her mouth if she couldn't back it up.

"Yep, and something about it's not over. Look, whatever it is, I'm glad you did. Hopefully, this shuts her up." Katie grinned wickedly.

A small giggle escaped her lips, and Ashley quickly covered her mouth, hoping no one heard it.

For some reason, Ashley found Katie's remark funny, and she burst into laughter. The Queen of Chaos looked at her oddly for a moment, before joining in on the laughter.

"If you ask me, Candice got lucky," Katie said once she had stopped laughing. "I would have rearranged that so-called pretty face of hers after those snide little comments she made.

"Then again, like you said, she did get lucky. We all hate her, but, no one can be as dangerous as you can." the Dirty Diva complimented.

"Thanks," Katie replied coolly, tossing her hair back. "Speaking of Candice, don't you two have a match in a few minutes?"

"Yeah, it's next. So, we should head out. See ya!" Ashley waved before leaving with Mickie.

* * *

They reached gorilla position just in time to hear Mickie's theme, Obsession blast. Mickie quickly hugged the blonde, and made her way out. She did her normal bouncy entrance, and blew kisses to the fans.

Ashley waited for a few seconds before hearing her own music come on.

**You better hold on tight**

**Cause I'm gonna love you nice**

**I'm gonna do it right**

**Let me light a fire in you tonight**

**My eyes have never seen someone who looks like you**

**I wonder if you dream of my hands loving you**

**Because I know I do every day and every night**

**And I know I'll lose control if I can't crush this appetite**

**This dream is eating me alive**

**This dream is eating me alive**

**Can't you see I'm burning up inside?**

**I pray I will not be denied**

**Let's light a fire tonigh**

**tLet's play the music loud**

**Let's expand the flames up high**

**Let's burn it to the ground**

**Let's light a fire tonight**

Ashley walked onto the ramp and looked up at a little girl in the third row, Smiling, she waved at the child. As her music kept playing, the crowd roared. It was on its feet, cheering much more than they had for Mickie, as the Dirty Diva made her way down the ramp, smiling and clapping her hands. It was an adrenaline rush like no other.

The cheers of the crowd reminded Ashley exactly why she loved wrestling so much, and she vowed to put on a good show for each and every one of her fans. She owed them that much.

Then, What Love is, Candice's theme came on.

She came out, and the fans booed her. She ignored this, and stepped into the ring. She grabbed a mic from one of the camera men, and smirked at her opponents.

"So, I'm sure you all may think my partner is someone in the RAW brand." Candice began. "But, it's not. Oh, no, I brought with me a fierce competitor." she described her tag team partner. And to Ashley and Mickie's huge surprise, Candice kept on smiling. "Guys, my tag team partner is from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is the one and only Natalya Neidhart!"

Then, Nattie's signature laugh, along with her theme Cool Tweak was heard.

"What? How did she get Natalya as her partner?" Ashley whispered to Mickie, who looked just as surprised as she did.

Mickie shrugged. "Beats me," she replied. "But unlike Candice, Natalya can and will wrestle. I think she's the one we're going to have to be worried about, not Candice." Mickie nodded her head as the Canadian made her way down the ramp. Natalya halted just as she reached the ropes, looking over her shoulder for a moment. Once she turned around, she locked her gaze on Ashley and Ashley could feel her stomach churning.

However, she surprised the face team by smiling at them. Not an evil smile, but a nice one.

She stayed outside the top rope, and let Candice start the match. Mickie looked at Ashley, who nodded, and Mickie went inside the ring.

Mickie got in and quickly tried to get the upper hand. She clotheslined Candice, and grinned as she yelped in pain.

"Come on Candice. Get up!" Mickie taunted.

Ashley grinned at seeing Candice lying in the ring, writhing and groaning in pain.

She clapped as her partner threw a few more punches at Candice, connecting with her face and head, and almost laughed when Mickie planted a large chop right across Candice's chest.

Candice, however, apparently didn't find it funny as she rubbed her chest. She kicked a turning Mickie in the stomach. She saw as the smaller woman fell to the floor, very surprised.

Seeing her there, Candice used it to her advantage, and continued to kick her until the ref ordered for her to stop.

Candice turned around, and looked at the fans. It seemed as if every single one was booing her. Not that it mattered anyways.

Mickie, was able to get up, and wait on Candice to turn. Then, she decided it was probably better if Ashley got her turn. So, she quietly made her way into her corner, and tagged Ashley as quietly as she could.

Ashley took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, and stepped beneath the ropes. She found herself face to face with Candice, who was grinning evilly at her.

Ashley, smirked. She hit a DDT on the former Women's Champion, before Candice had the chance to do anything else.

This did not make Candice happy. In fact, it angered her, and once she got to her feet, she kicked Ashley square in the jaw, knocking the Dirty Diva to the ground, Ashley clutching her jaw in pain.

Surprised, Ashley sprung to her feet, and before Candice had time to react, the Dirty Diva grabbed her legs, and rolled her up into a small package. The ref threw his hands down to count the pin, but Candice kicked out before the two count.

Frustrated, Ashley slammed her hand down on the mat. Candice walked over to her and they locked up, with Ashley twisting out and catching Candice with a neckbreaker. The other woman groaned in pain as she hit the mat yet again, crying out even louder in pain. Meanwhile, in the other corner, Mickie was violently waving her hand in the hair, trying to get Ashley to tag her in. But Ashley wasn't finished with Candice yet.

She gave Candice a few chops to the chest, and the crowd roared with each one. Finally, Candice managed to get away and make her way over to the turnbuckle, where her partner, Natalya, was at. She looked over at Natalya and stuck her hand out, signaling that she wanted to tag her partner in, but Natalya moved away just as Candice went to slap her arm.

"What the heck?" Candice mouthed, confused by her tag team partner's reaction. She reached out once more to tag Natalya's hand, and again Natalya swatted it away. She gave Candice an evil smile, and, just loud enough for Candice to hear, said "I'm not teaming with a stupid bimbo like you." A look of shock overcome Candice's face, and Ashley saw this as the perfect opportunity to take the match home. She grabbed Candice by the hair, flipping her over and down to the mat, and hesitantly climbed up on the second rope. The crowd was even louder than they had been a few seconds ago, because they knew what was coming. Taking a deep breath, Ashley positioned herself a little better and before she knew it, had executed a picture-perfect Starstruck. She looked down at the woman beneath her and saw that Candice was breathing heavily. She hooked her leg up for the pin, and the ref counted 1, 2, 3...the match was over.

"Light a Fire Tonight" began playing, and Mickie made her way into the ring to stand beside Ashley as the referee held up both their hands, to signal the victory.

Ashley and Mickie blew kisses to the fans before going backstage again.

* * *

As soon as the girls made it backstage, they were greeted by claps and congratulations from the other Superstars. Ashley was beaming from ear to ear, and one glance at Mickie revealed that she was feeling the same way.

Ashley felt Mickie squeeze her hand tightly, and she squeezed it back. Still very excited from the match, the girls sat down on a bench next to the wall. Ashley was about to ask Mickie what she thought about Natalya's reaction during the match, but the familiar voice of Chris Jericho beat her to the punch."Congratulations, ladies," the former Intercontinental Champion said, clapping his hands and smiling. "I was watching your match from the back, and you both did a great job." He leaned over and gave Mickie a kiss on the cheek. "I bet you're both tired, though." He rubbed Mickie's shoulder gently. "Are your muscles sore, babe? Because I can give you a massage if you'd like."

Mickie looked at Ashley, then to Chris, and back at Ashley. "Ash, do you mind if I go?" she asked. "I promise that I'll come find you before you leave tonight." She rubbed the spot where Chris's hand had just been. Her muscles were sore, and right now, a massage sounded like the best thing in the world. But she didn't want Ashley to think she was trying to blow her off.

"Yeah, I promise I won't keep her away from you for too long," Chris teased. "You did a great job out there too, Ash. You definitely nailed that elbow drop."

Ashley beamed and replied, "Thanks, Chris. By the way, if you do have a match tonight, good luck. And go ahead, Mickie. It's okay, I understand." She punched Mickie's arm playfully. "Just be sure you don't leave me, like last time."

Mickie grew bright red, and she mumbled, "Sorry about that. I'll definitely find you in a little while, though. I promise." Chris waved once more to Ashley, and he and Mickie made their way down the long hallway, holding hands as they went.

**"**Hey Ashley." a deep male voice called out.

Ashley turned around, and saw Smackdowns own, the WWE Champion, Triple H standing a few feet away.

"Oh, hey, Hunter," she replied. "You scared me! How long have you been standing there?" Hunter had a smile on his face and Ashley could only guess that he'd either won his match that night, or was just in a good mood. Either way, she was happy to see him.

"Long enough. Naw, I just walked up to you. So, I saw your match. I have to say, I was very impressed. You showed Candice what a real woman can do. She just found out that being eye-candy isn't going to take her places. Well, that is unless she sleeps her way to the top." he said, making the blonde woman laugh. "Natalya. Do you know what's up with her?"

"No, I don't," Ashley replied. Natalya had came out as Candice's partner, but then betrayed her at the end of the match, catching her off-guard and giving Ashley the opportunity to win the match. She was glad that Natalya had done that, but at the same time, she wasn't really sure if she could trust the Canadian or not. She wanted to, but what if it was part of some plan that Natalya had?

"I mean, I don't know her very well, so I'm not sure what to think about her actions tonight." The Diva scooted over on the bench, allowing Hunter to sit down beside her. "Mickie and I were both surprised about it. I'm hoping that maybe she's realized that teaming up with Candice will get her nowhere if she wants to prove her in-ring skills." She arched an eyebrow. "Do you know anything about her or why she would have done this?"

"I don't know much. Vince sent me once to scout the OVW talent, and she was there. She and her boyfriend, uh, T.J. Wilson, I think had a tag team match against Katie Lea and Ted DiBiase Jr. She's a pretty serious person. She's good in the ring. I mean, look at her uncle. Bret is the Excellence of Execution. I don't know why she did this though. I'm sorry." Hunter apologized.

"No, it's fine," Ashley replied, as she waved her hand around. "I'm not UPSET that she turned on Candice, because it did cause myself and Mickie to win the match." She bit her lip. "I appreciate her help, and I will agree that she has amazing skills, what with her family being part of the legendary Hart family, but I'm just not too sure about her intentions right now, is all." Ashley explained.

"No, it's fine," Ashley replied, as she waved her hand around. "I'm not UPSET that she turned on Candice, because it did cause myself and Mickie to win the match." She bit her lip. "I appreciate her help, and I will agree that she has amazing skills, what with her family being part of the legendary Hart family, but I'm just not too sure about her intentions right now, is all." Ashley explained.

"True. Plus, I can imagine Candice isn't very well liked with the other girls. I can imagine she's getting made fun of. Serves her right if you ask me. If she's going to dish out some venom, she better be prepared to get some in return."

Ashley wiped tears of laughter from her eyes and shook her head. "She probably is, but you know what ? Maybe she shouldn't dish it out if she can't take it." The woman brushed back a piece of hair and continued speaking. "And I'm not afraid of Candice at all. The most she can do is call me names, which don't hurt at all, and talk a bunch of trash about how she THINKS everyone likes her better than me. But I know they don't."

Hunter laughed. "Yeah, you're right. So, listen Ash…" he began until they heard a scream.

They looked at each other quizzically, and then made their way towards the noise.

Apparently, it was in the men's locker room.

Hunter cautiously opened the door, and went it with Ashley right behind him.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Hunter thundered.

John Cena and his girlfriend, Liz Brentwood, were on the floor, and halfway through ripping each other's off.

Liz smirked, and asked, "What do you think we're doing Hunter?" as she cocked her head to the side.

"I um.." Hunter trailed off.

"You know, this is a locker room. People come in and out of it. Get a room. Or in your case Liz, a pole or something." Ashley said.

"Jealous much?" Liz asked.

"Of what? A bimbo who's not very smart? I don't think so. Plus, your little, um, man isn't much of a catch. Compared to others I mean.. Because there are others so much better than him." Ashley fired back.

Liz snorted. "Like who?" she asked, staring at Ashley.

"Ladies, cool it." Hunter said.

John, however, stayed quiet. Ashley's comment had hurt him. More than he was willing to admit.

"Baby, aren't you going to say something?" Liz asked innocently.

"You know what? We're out." Ashley said, and yanked Hunter out of there with her.

"Ugh, she's nasty." Ashley shivered.

"Tell me about it." Hunter agreed, nodding his head.

"Hey guys." the Rainbow-Haired Warrior walked up to the Cerebral Assassin and the Dirty Diva.

"Hey Jeffy." Ashley hugged her good friend.

"Jeff. I'm sorry about your loss." Hunter frowned.

"Thanks man. But, you can bet I'm going to show MVP what I'm made of on Smackdown." Jeff vowed.

"We're sure you will." Ashley agreed.

"Thanks." Jeff beamed.

"Jeff, great! I've been looking all over for you!" Mr. Kennedy exclaimed, rushing up to his friend.

"Oh, you have?" Jeff asked innocently.

"Yes." Ken said seriously.

"So, um, why?" Jeff asked nonchalantly.

"You know why." Ken said pointedly.

"Um, no I don't." Jeff shrugged.

"Yes, I think you do." Ken said exasperated.

"I do?" Jeff asked.

"Dude!" Ken glared.

"Oh, that." Jeff's eyes widened.

"Yep, now, can we talk?" Ken asked.

"I…" Jeff looked apprehensive, not that Ken Kennedy noticed.

"Great, let's go." Ken grinned. He pulled Jeff down the hall.

Meanwhile, Jeff muttered the words "Help Me" to the two blondes.

"Okay, that was.."

"Weird, strange, awkward." Ashley finished.

"It sure was." Hunter nodded vigorously.

"Sort of like Jeff had been avoiding Ken." Ashley guessed.

"Why, though?"

"Who knows. Probably some guy stuff." Ashley muttered.

"Yeah, probably." Hunter said absentmindedly.

"Anything wrong?" Ashley asked.

"No!" Hunter yelled.

"Okay then." Ashley said quietly, looking hurt.

Hunter was too engrossed in his own problems to notice. "Look, Ashley, I'll catch you later." He said before walking away.

Ashley raised an eyebrow.

"Ashley." a new voice said softly.

Ashley turned around, and saw the Rated-R Superstar, Edge, or the man simply known as Adam came up to her.

"Adam," she said hesitantly in reply, a bit unsure of what the Canadian's motives were.

"Ashley, I want to apologize. I acted like an ass, and you didn't deserve any of it. I'm sorry." the blonde man repeated.

"You're sorry?" Ashley repeated.

"Well, at least you had the guts to come apologize to me face to face," She smoothed her hair back and continued. "I accept your apology, Adam."

Ashley nodded slowly, a kind look playing on her lips. "Yes, Adam, I do. I have no reason to believe that you meant to act that way. I know you wouldn't hurt me on purpose."

"I wouldn't." Adam agreed. Not being able to take it anymore, he grabbed the Dirty Diva, and hugged her, spinning her around like a doll in the process.

At this time, the reunion of the blondes was being watched. It was being watched by someone who didn't want to see either one of them happy. And, would go to any lengths in order to make sure they weren't happy. They of all people didn't deserve to be happy.

* * *

**A/N: All right, so someone was watching them. Anyone want to take a guess at who it was? Do you think it was a Diva? Or could it have been a Superstar? Let me know what you think.**


	7. A Night of Twists

**A/N: Sadly for me, things didn't go as planned, and I was not able to update sooner. I really am sorry because I was going to have it sooner. Enjoy! Feedback is appreciated :D The comments I make towards Candice Michelle are not meant to insult anyone who might like her. I like her, I really do, but I thought she'd be the perfect heel for this.**

**Thank you to twinny, berrycharismatic, and Kat RoadKill for reviewing chapter 6.**

**Thank you for helping me with this twinny! I appreciate it so much! Love ya!**

**Normal Disclaimer: I own not a single part of World Wrestling Entertainment.**

**Summary : " He's used to being the top dog on Raw, and along that, comes the million of women who throw themselves at him. Now John must fight for the attention of the one woman who has secretly had his heart."**

_Previous chapter: Ashley nodded slowly, a kind look playing on her lips. "Yes, Adam, I do. I have no reason to believe that you meant to act that way. I know you wouldn't hurt me on purpose."_

"_I wouldn't." Adam agreed. Not being able to take it anymore, he grabbed the Dirty Diva, and hugged her, spinning her around like a doll in the process._

_At this time, the reunion of the blondes was being watched. It was being watched by someone who didn't want to see either one of them happy. And, would go to any lengths in order to make sure they weren't happy. They of all people didn't deserve to be happy._

**The Butterfly Effect Chapter 7**

"Ashley." a female voice called out.

Ashley, who had grabbed a banana from catering, turned around. And boy, was she surprised at who was standing behind her.

"Natalya. What can I do for you?" the older blonde asked.

"Well, if you could please call me something that isn't Natalya, I'd appreciate it. I like Nattie better." the third generation wrestler grinned.

"All right, Nattie. Is there anything I can help you with?" Ashley asked once again.

"Well, I was hoping we could talk." Nattie confessed.

"Mmm." Ashley bit into her banana.

"But from the look on your face, I'd say you might not want to. Let me guess. You think I had a reason for saying I'd team with Candice, then just not even let her tag me in. Yeah, you're right. I don't like Candice at all, or can I stand her. I was forced into teaming with her by Stephanie McMahon."

"Stephanie. Figures." Ashley muttered.

"So, what do you say? Friends?" Nattie stuck out her hand.

"Friends." Ashley shook it.

"Hey Jeff." Chris Jericho smiled at the younger man.

"Hey Mr. World Heavyweight Champion." Jeff grinned.

Chris laughed. "Ha-ha. Have you seen Ash? I've got something for her."

"Nope, but describe "something" the younger man asked.

Chris groaned. "Pervert. It's not like that. It's a gift for her daughter, you nitwit."

"Oh." Jeff got embarrassed.

"How's it going? We haven't gotten the chance to talk much lately."

Jeff groaned.

"Whoa, I didn't know you hated me." Chris pouted.

"Not you. Him." Jeff made a movement towards Chris's back.

Chris took a peek, and saw Ken Kennedy almost approaching them.

"What's wrong with Ken?" he asked.

"He's gone all nuts. He's irritated all the damn time." Jeff explained.

"And that has something to do with you, how?"

"He talks to me nonstop." Jeff whined.

"I'm definitely glad I'm not you." Chris grinned.

"Shut up." Jeff growled.

"Okay, geez. I'll see you later, man. I gotta go find Ashley." Chris patted the young man's back, and walked away.

John Cena was walking around the arena, and spotted Ashley. She was alone, so he began to make his way over to the Dirty Diva.

"Ashley." he called out.

At hearing her name, and seeing who called her out, the you woman tried to walk away. She was unsuccessful as he softly grabbed her arm.

"John, let me go. I don't want to talk to you." Ashley muttered.

"But I do." he said softly.

"Ash. Hey girl! Can I talk to you for a minute?" Chris Jericho walked up to the pair.

"Sure. Excuse me John." Ashley released herself from John's grip and made her way over to the new Heavyweight Champion.

"Hey Chris." Ashley smiled at her friend.

"Ashy. So, I have something for you. Well, not for you exactly." Chris announced.

"What?" Ashley raised an eyebrow.

"I got a Winnie the Pooh for you daughter." Chris said proudly, and gave a neatly wrapped box to Ashley.

"Aww, thank you Chris." Ashley gushed.

She pulled the blonde man in for a hug, much to the huge displeasure and anger of a certain former WWE Women's Champion.

"Hey Hunter." John walked up to the WWE Champion, who was drinking some Fiji water.

"Dude, what's wrong with you? You look like hell." Hunter commented John's look.

"What do you mean what's wrong with me? Nothing's wrong with me." John said nervously.

"Right." Hunter gave John a look.

"What?" John said innocently.

"Spill it. Something is wrong." Hunter guessed knowingly.

"Fine. It's Liz. She's been following me around. ALL the time. It's bothering, and I'm--"

"Yeah?" Hunter asked, motioning for John to continue.

"Well," John began, trying to explain his dilemma to the WWE Champion, but had barely gotten the words out of his mouth when he heard a female voice call "Oh, John!"

"Crap." he muttered quietly.

"Liz." he said with fake enthusiasm.

The blonde woman sauntered up to the handsome Superstar, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Hey, baby," she said lovingly. "What's up?"

"Uh, we um. Hunter and I were agreeing to having a guy's night today." John lied. "Right, Hunter?"

"Yeah. He's right." Hunter said, an amused look on his face.

"But, baby, I thought you said you were going to take me out tonight." Liz pouted, with a sigh.

Hunter rolled his eyes and tried not to laugh at that remark.

She smiled at John and kissed his cheek lightly. "But it's fine, baby. I'm not mad. Maybe I can hang out with some of the girls, and get to know them better."

Hunter snickered quietly. "I'm sure they'd love that."

"Yeah, Liz, we'll see you later. We gotta bounce." John said.

"All right, baby," Liz replied, leaning up to kiss John lightly on the lips. "Make sure you call me when you get back."

She waved at Hunter. "Don't get him into too much trouble, Hunter."

"Oh, honey, he's the one that gets into the trouble all by himself." Hunter smiled, which didn't make Liz too happy, nor did it reassure her.

Liz turned to John and glared at him coldly. "You better stay away from strip clubs, John." She pointed a finger at him. "I mean it. If I hear that you've brought home some trashy bimbo, you're gonna get it."

Then, she walked away without a second glance.

"Like she's not one?" Hunter muttered sarcastically.

This threw John into a fit of laughter.

"Did you say something?" Liz asked, confused.

"No, I didn't." Hunter grinned.

"Whatever." Liz rolled her eyes.

She turned back to John. "Well, baby, I'll be back at the hotel room when you get back tonight." She ran a finger across his cheek. "I'll have a special surprise waiting for you."

"All right. See you later." John said too enthusiastically.

Then, he went off with Hunter before Liz could say anything else.

"What?" a very surprise Chris Jericho asked.

"You heard me. I want to break up." Mickie James repeated.

"But, baby. I--"

"This relationship is over. Done. Finished. Now get the hell out of my way!" Mickie yelled, and stomped away, leaving a confused and heartbroken Chris behind her.


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: Right, well, I really am sorry. School's been getting in the way of updating. So, blame my teachers and their huge amount of work :D LOL. Oh, and this is set on Sunday, but before Cyber Sunday.**_

_**Thank you to xAttitudex and Twinny for sticking with me and this story. I appreciate it! Ya'll get cyber cookies :D**_

_**Small question: Is anyone mad Ted and Cody lost the titles? I know I am **__**L**_

_**Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay!! Enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: I own no part of World Wrestling Entertainment, or it's superstars.**_

* * *

_The Butterfly Effect chapter 8_

_Ugh. That was the first word that came into John Cena's head after last nights events. Okay, so maybe he didn't leave the club he and Hunter went to completely sober, but he wasn't exactly sober either. He had a massive headache, not to mention he was hungry. Slowly, he turned around careful not to crush Liz's sleeping figure next to him, and looked at the clock over the nightstand, which read 7:45 a.m. No wonder the sun wasn't shining through the window. As quietly as he possibly could, he got off the bed and put on a pair of sweats and a white T-shirt._

_John then made his way into the bathroom to brush his teeth, walking quietly, so as not to wake Liz. He turned the faucet on and looked at himself once in the mirror before brushing his teeth. There were bags under his eyes and it was pretty evident by the red tint of them that he had had a wild night. He shook his head in an attempt to ward off the nagging headache he had. He quickly brushed his teeth and ran his fingers through his short brown hair. He didn't really need to do much to it anyway. That was the upside to having short hair. John walked back into the small bedroom and grabbed his white Reeboks from the corner, carrying them over to the bed with him so he could sit down and put them on. He was just about to lace them up when he heard Liz say something._

_"Johnny…" she mumbled. John cocked his head in confusion. _

_Had she been awake when he'd gotten up? He couldn't remember. He sighed. Last night was really affecting him more than he'd realized. Now he was hearing things. _

_"Johnny," Liz continued. The former WWE Champ didn't turn around, but still questioned, "Yeah, Liz?" not knowing she was asleep._

_The woman hadn't heard him--she was simply talking in her sleep. "Johnny, you're such a sexy boy. My sexy boy," she muttered, her voice thick with sleep._

_John snorted quietly. She was sleeping, and here he thought she was talking to him._

_Before she could really wake up this time, John headed out the room. As he was going down the hotel's stairs, he heard two people arguing quietly. As quietly as he could, he moved as he possibly could without being seen. He hid behind the wall that showed the backs of two women. One with blonde hair, who had sweats and a black sweater on. The other, was rather curvy, with jet black hair, and was wearing a jean skirt and a floral top._

"_Ashley!" he heard Melina hiss sleepily._

"_Melina!" Ashley hissed just as coldly._

"_Are you stupid?" the Latina asked her close friend._

"_Excuse me?" the Dirty Diva scoffed._

"_You heard me. I asked you if you were stupid." _

"_And why would I be?" the blonde asked angrily._

"_Well, it's either that, or a cold-hearted ska--." Melina's eyes were huge as she almost finished her sentence._

"_Skank? Me, a skank? Out of the people, that'd be you. Because let me remind you honey, YOU slept with another man while you had a boyfriend, not me." she shot back._

_Melina's face got red, as she began to get angry. "Look little girl, we weren't talking about me or my personal life. And what I do is none of your business. But, that's not what I want to talk to you about."_

"_So what is this oh so very great 7:50 am chat for then?" the New York native asked._

"_John." she said simply._

"_What about him?" Ashley asked._

"_You're hurting him Ashley. You keep pushing him away! Time after time, he tries to apologize to you, and what do you do? You avoid him, or ignore him. He's not made out of stone, girl. He has feelings Ashley. It's obvious they're for you." Melina answered._

"_Then why did he bring Liz with him then?" she asked softly._

"_I don't know. Oh, come on. Every man has someone they drool over for. And obviously, Cena isn't an exception to the typical stupidity of the male behavior." Melina said._

_Ashley smiled a bit. "Whatever."_

"_Look, all I'm saying is give him a chance to talk to you." Ashley's friend encouraged._

_Ashley hesitated. Sure, she wanted to talk to John, but this would bring consequences. Huge ones, for that matter. She was sure of that._

* * *

_Back to John……_

_He was thrilled about the turn Melina and Ashley's conversation had taken. So, instead of going to talk to Ashley like he had originally intended, he turned, and went in the opposite direction, toward room 475. When he got there, he banged the door as quietly as he could, then of course, he was excited, so it wasn't that quiet._

_About two seconds later, the door opened, and out came a very sleepy looking Randy Orton._

"_Hey man. Good morning" John said quiet cheerfully,_

"_Uh huh." Randy responded and opened the door so John could come in. _

_"So, man," John began, a chipper tone to his voice, "What's wrong with you? You look like shit."_

_Randy rolled his eyes. "Well, John, that may be because I was sleeping until you started banging on my door like a madman." He looked at the clock and groaned. "Man, I was having such a sweet dream, too…" Randy punched his best friend on the arm. "Don't you ever sleep in?"_

_John shrugged. "Sometimes."_

_Randy rolled his eyes and motioned for John to continue, which he did._

_"Seriously, man, you look like you've been through the wringer." John raised an eyebrow. "What, did you have a hot date last night?"_

_"What? No, of course not. No woman of this town is good enough for the Legend Killer." Randy scoffed._

_"Sure, dude," John teased, almost laughing at his friend's remark. Randy was his best friend, but sometimes he could be a cocky bastard. John didn't mind because it was fun to tease Randy about it._

_"All right, bro, whatever." John shook his head. "It's just that your hair is all rumpled, and your eyes are red…. either you had a hot chick in here last night and ya'll did the freaky freaky or you just had one hell of a nightmare."_

_Randy's eyes got huge. "Dude, who says freaky freaky anymore? And, to answer your question," Randy paused for dramatical effect, "It is not any of your business."_

_John rolled his eyes. "I know you ain't making fun of the way I talk when you walk to the ring in just a shirt and your trunks." He was just teasing, of course. That was the way his and Randy's relationship was. They made fun of each other all the time, but it was all in good fun._

_"And as a matter of fact, Randal, it is my business, being that I'm your best friend and all, plus you're always buggin' me about my dates." He cleared his throat. "Come on, out with it, is she hot? Where'd you meet her at? I won't tell anyone, I swear."_

_Randy groaned. "Cena! Will you just drop it? Seriously, stay out of it. Then again, knowing you, you aren't one to stay quiet and drop things. If you know what I mean."_

_"No, I don't know what you mean," John retorted, fixing his gaze on Randy. "Care to tell me what the hell you mean by that little remark?"_

_Randy's refusal to disclose the previous night's events was beginning to aggravate him. He hadn't came to Randy's hotel room to argue with him._

"_Well, let's just say that you're no good at playing the game." Randy smirked._

"_And you know this how?" John arched an eyebrow in a very the Rock looking fashion._

_"I don't. I," Randy paused, "am not a'ight," Randy smirked at his usage at what he called "John's words. __"with playing in that field."_

_John snickered and covered his mouth quickly so that Randy wouldn't hear. _

_"Dude, that's not funny. I was bein' serious. But if you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine. We'll just drop the subject." He looked around the room. "Do you ever clean up after yourself?" The room was a mess, with clothes scattered everywhere and empty food containers piled on the dresser. John wondered how there weren't ants in the room._

_Randy shrugged. "The maid hasn't came to clean the room yet." _

_John rolled his eyes again. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you something. Have you had breakfast?"_

_"No, I haven't, but, I know that is not what you came here to talk to me about because I don't like being woken up so early in the morning."_

_"Damn, you know me too well," John replied, a little bit mad that he'd gotten caught. "You're right, that's not what I came here to talk to you about. I know you're not a morning person, but I heard Ashley and Melina talking in the hall earlier." He paused for effect. "And they were talking about me."_

"_And this is so great, why?" Randy rolled his eyes, and asked._

_"Dude, you could show a little more enthusiasm and actually pretend to be interested," John replied, clearly frustrated._

_"Maybe you won't wake me up so early next time." Randy folded his hands behind his head and leaned up against the headboard of the bed._

_"I didn't catch it all," John said, ignoring Randy's remark. "But Melina said something to Ashley about listening to what I had to say, and giving me a second chance."_

"_Great. Maybe now you'll get a chance to talk to her." Randy yawned._

_"Gee, thanks. You seem happy for me." John said sarcastically._

_"I am!" Randy insisted._

_"You know, Randy," John said, "I listened to you bitch and bitch when you got dumped by that chick you met at the bar a few months ago. So don't you think you owe me?"_

_Randy was about to respond with a comment about how he did not whine, but thought John was right, maybe just a little bit. Not that he'd ever admit it. "All right then, Miss I can't wait to talk about Ashley, go ahead."_

_John was glad that Randy had decided to stop arguing with him and actually let him talk He scratched the top of his head before putting his cap back on, and tried to recall the events of what he had seen earlier to Randy. "Anyway, as I was trying to say, I heard Ash and Melina talking in the hall this morning.."_

_Randy cut him off. "What were you doing listening to them anyway? Nosy much?"_

_John bit his lip to keep from yelling at Randy and looked toward the ceiling, trying to calm himself down. "I don't know, I heard my name being mentioned and I stopped to see what they were saying about me. Oh, and you wouldn't do the same if you heard two of the Divas talking about you?"_

_Randy shrugged. He didn't associate with the Divas that much as it was. _

_"But they were talking about me. Well, they were fightin' about something first, and then Melina told Ashley to give me a chance, or something like that."_

_"Uh huh." Randy responded. __"Look, man, that's great and all, but I'm really tired. So if you don't mind, can we continue this later?" Randy asked._

_"Why? So you can sleep? Look, Randy, you don't need to spend all day in bed. Get your ass up and go to the gym or something. Unless there's a chick here, there's no reason for you to lay in bed all day." John replied, clearly upset now._

_"And exactly who do you think you are to tell me what to do?" Randy shot back angrily._

_John put his hand on Randy's shoulder to try and calm him down. "Look, dude, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to tell you what to do, and I definitely ain't gonna sit here and argue with you. I just wanted to share what I heard Ashley and Melina talking about with you."_

_Randy rubbed his palm over his face. He wasn't trying to be mean, or rude, but he really didn't feel like doing anything at the moment besides sleeping. John was his best friend, and he enjoyed hanging out with him, but at the moment, he could care less about Ashley and Melina and what they were talking about. _

_"John, wait, I didn't mean it the way it came out," Randy said with a groan. "Man, you know how irritable I am when you wake me up in the morning. I didn't mean to snap at you." _

_"It's all right, man, it's cool." John patted the third-generation Superstar on the back. "I'm kinda _

_At the mention of food, Randy perked up. "Sure, just let me shower."_

_"Yeah, I did that earlier," John said. "Don't wanna walk around with a nasty stank smell." He chuckled. "You want me to leave, or do you mind if I just stick around and watch the boob tube until you're done?"_

_"Nah, you can stay." Randy said, and left to take a shower._

* * *

_Kelly smiled at Edge as she twirled a lock of her platinum blonde hair around her finger. She ran her eyes appreciatively over the Rated-R Superstar's body and almost sighed. Kelly hadn't had much of a chance to talk to Edge when she first joined the WWE roster, and she regretted that. Edge had been gone for a while, and he had put on a little bit of weight and was sporting a beard, but he still looked sexy. "So, Edge," she said, "What exactly are you doing here? I mean, you're not supposed to return for another month or so, right?" _

_Edge didn't say anything, so Kelly continued talking. "I can't wait until you come back. I just know that you're going to beat the Undertaker and get your title back." She pouted. "It's a shame that you had to lose it to CM Punk on RAW. He totally took advantage of you. I mean, you'd already been beat up by Batista." She lightly ran a finger over Edge's bicep. "That wasn't fair."_

_"Uh…right, yeah." the Canadian man stuttered. He seriously hoped she would have been tired of talking, but no. For the past 15 minutes, the young woman just kept talking and talking. She was like, what? 21? And flirting with him!_

_Kelly's smile grew wider. She wanted to ask the blonde man a question, but she was afraid of the answer. After all, she didn't want him to think that she was trying to pry into his personal life, but she really wanted to know the answer to her question. So she looked down at her feet, and then back up to Edge, her cheeks flushed a little bit as she spoke._

_"So, um, are you seeing anyone? I mean, I know you were with Lita during the whole feud with Matt, and then I heard the two of you broke up, and Candice said something to me last week about you being single.." She was babbling now._

_"I, uh, well, you see, it's um…complicated." the older man finished quietly,_

_"Aww, I'm sorry to hear that," Kelly answered, although she didn't feel sorry at all. She pretended to look sympathetic, and moved her hand down to the Canadian man's chest. "Do you want to talk about it?"_

_Edge moved away, uncomfortable at how close Kelly was to him._

_Sadly, Kelly couldn't take the hint, and once again, moved closer to the Rated-R Superstar._

_"Adam," Kelly said softly, calling the Superstar by his given name, "I know how lonely it can be on the road, and it's even worse when you don't have anyone to go home to." She leaned forward, her lips next to Edge's ear. "If you ever find yourself feeling lonely, and you want some company, you know how to find me. I'd be more than happy to help cure your loneliness."_

_"Kelly, I--" he began, but was interrupted._

_"Adam! Hey, I've been looking all over for you. I just wanted to talk about you know, our date tonight." Natalya Neidhart smiled, and walked over to where Adam and Kelly were standing._

_Kelly was shocked. She couldn't have heard the older woman correctly, could she? _

_After all, Adam hadn't said anything about seeing Nattie, or anyone for that matter. Then, the shock wore off and anger and jealousy sat in. She looked at Nattie with a disgusted look on her face. Kelly didn't see the big deal--Nattie wasn't that pretty. At least, not to her._

_"Nats, hey, yeah, of course. I'll see you around Kelly." Adam smiled, and looked relived._

_"Bye Kelly." Nattie smirked._

_As soon as they were out of Kelly's earshot, the Rated-R superstar began talking. "Thank you so much! I thought she would never stop. It, uh… thanks." he smiled at his friend._

_"No problem," Nattie replied._

_"You looked pretty uncomfortable there. Besides, I know how annoying Kelly can be. No one deserves that kind of torture." She smiled at Edge._

_"Ugh. Tell me about it." he shuddered._

_The two of them walked down the corridor together, not saying anything. Nattie opened her mouth to say something, then shut it quickly. Edge noticed this and cocked his head to the side._

_"Did you want to say something, Nattie?"_

_"Yeah, I did." Nattie replied, but thought better of it. "You know what, never mind. Forget it. I'll see you later Adam." _

_Edge thought about reaching out to stop her, but it was too late. Nattie picked up her pace, the clicking of her heels sounding in Edge's ears. He was completely bewildered at what had just happened, and made him believe that he would never understand women. Nattie had saved him from Kelly by saying that the two of them had a date, which he was very grateful for. Then it had seemed like she wanted_

_to tell him something, but backed off because she was afraid. Edge didn't understand why she hadn't just came right out and said it. After all, he was a guy, he was no good at trying to read women's emotions._

_The Rated-R Superstar ran a hand through his wavy blonde hair and sighed. __So much for talking to a friendly face._

* * *

_"I know, right? If that little wannabe thinks she's actually good enough in a match against me, she is so wrong. I mean, who does she think she is?" Mickie rambled on._

_"Ugh. Trashley is exactly that. She's trash. She think she's so good because she's friends with Adam, but she's not. Then again, she's not friends with John last I heard, so we could always use that to our advantage." Candice Michelle said._

_"Ashley, Brian. Just that we gave her a new name." Mickie said, rolling her eyes._

_"Oh, I get it. Trashley because she always looks so dirty when she comes to the ring," Brian said, grinning. "And she dresses like a trashy tramp."_

"_Exactly." Candice grinned._

_"So, do you dolls have a match against Ashley tonight?" Brian asked, as he picked up a mirror from the dresser and looked at his reflection._

_"No, but we will." Candice grinned._

_"Really?" Brian asked._

_"Yes." the girls looked at each other, and grinned._

* * *

_"I am so pissed that I don't get to wrestle tonight, man," Randy said as he and John headed down the stairs, John carrying the luggage. It was 10 after 4, and they were getting ready to leave for the arena. _

_John grumbled as he tried to push both his and Randy's luggage, while Randy continued babbling about how he hoped he could get back in the ring soon, and that he was looking forward to seeing the Diva's costumes during the pay-per-view, and a couple other things. John just tuned him out because his thoughts weren't focused on that right now. He really wanted to talk to Ashley and find out what Melina had meant earlier._

_"I'm not wrestling either, bro, remember?" John pointed out. "So you're not exactly alone."_

_"I know, man. It just seems so unfair. John? Are you listening to me?" Randy snapped._

_"I'll be right back." the older man said, before walking over to Ashley._

_"Hey Ashley." John said quietly._

_"Um, __I'm doing okay. You?" she asked._

_"Pretty good," John answered with a nervous smile, his dimples showing. "Still rehabbing the neck. The doctors say that I should be back in the ring by Survivor Series." His voice got soft. "I miss it."_

_"I'm sorry about that John. I really am." Ashley spoke quietly._

_The silence was uncomfortable and John cursed himself for being nervous. It was hard for him to even look at Ashley because he felt bad about what had happened between them._

_"It's okay, not your fault," John said. "You look good."_

_"Thanks." Ashley half smiled._

_"Um, Ashley?" John asked._

_"Yes?" Ashley asked._

_"Do you think we could talk? Like, seriously talk. Without you walking away from me?" he asked._

_"Yes, just not right now. Not with all these people around us." the New York native responded._

_"Well, where do you wanna talk at?" John asked. "It doesn't matter to me."_

_"What about when we get to the arena?" she suggested._

_"Yeah, if I can get rid of Randy," John joked. He smiled. "Sure, that's fine. Just meet me in catering, okay?"_

_"Okay." Ashley agreed._

_Then, the Dirty Diva left, and ran to catch up with her friend, the Rated-R superstar, Adam Copeland._

_Slowly, John made his way back to Randy._

_"Dude, what the heck? Here I was talking to you, then you leave me talking in the middle of a sentence!" Randy snapped._

_"Yeah, right, I bet you didn't even notice I was gone," John answered, ignoring Randy's tone. "I told you I was going to go talk to Ashley. Didn't you hear me, or were you too busy bitching and moaning?"_

_"No, I saw you" Randy said coldly._

_And as Randy began to talk again, John, yet again, tuned him out. Instead, he thought about how today had changed a lot of things. It had made Ashley consider talking to him again, and listen to him. Then, as he saw Adam and Ashley joking around not too far away from him, he realized not everything had changed, and there wasn't much he could do about it._

_**A/N: All right, Ash is giving him a chance to talk! Yay :D**_


	9. Because I Can

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A/N: I am so sorry! I hope this makes up for the lack of updating. And, I have a poll up on my profile. I'd appreciate it if you could vote in it, please.

**Pay attention to someone particular in this chapter. Because as of this chapter, things just picked up for someone. Oh, and this will get updated again before the end of the year :D Reviews are appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: Ya'll already know…..**

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* * *

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Seething. Former Women's Champion Mickie James was seething. After having talked to Stephanie about the fact she thought she deserved a match against Ashley, since she was better than the Dirty Diva, Stephanie had d. But not before adding some twists of her own. She said that Mickie would be part of a tag team match with the World Heavyweight Champion, against Ashley and the Legend Killer, Randy Orton.

Now that she thought about it though, it wasn't that bad. For one, both guys had a past, and were "feuding" on TV. And whenever they had to fight each other, they'd get pretty competitive. Then again, John was friends was Ashley. For all she knew, he could even let himself get pinned so she could win. Ugh, she hated their little high school-wannabe drama. She knew that she'd probably end up doing most of the work in the match, because John would no doubt be spending most of the time staring at Ashley. But he was not going to screw this match up for her because of a stupid crush.

* * *

Excited. The World Heavyweight Champion was excited. He was thrilled. Not so much that he'd be teaming with Mickie, but because he was going to be in a match against Ashley. Meaning they'd have to talk about it. And she couldn't run away from him. She had promised to talk to him when they got to the arena.

* * *

Livid. The Dirty Diva, Ashley Massaro was livid. How could she..Ugh. she couldn't even form a complete thought in her head. She would be teaming with Randy Orton tonight, to take on John Cena and Mickie James. Sure, she and Randy were on friendly terms. Or, at least they had been before his return. Now, he was just a complete psycho. He beat up innocent people, who had already been beaten. He had also taken out Priceless' Ted DiBiase out. Who knew what he was capable of? Ashley certainly didn't. In fact, that was the main reason she was scared. Not because of Mickie James. No, but, because of her own tag team partner. God, if she was scared of him, she didn't know how they'd make it through the match.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted as she made her way towards the women's locker room. Someone was standing right in front of it. Blocking her from going up. She looked up, and who did she see? The Legend Killer himself, Randy Orton. Without so much as a word coming out of his mouth, the Missouri native stepped inside the locker room.

"What do you think you're doing? Randy, that's--" she started, but he pulled her inside too.

"Ow, Randy, let go of my arm!" Ashley shrieked, pushing his hand away.

"God. What do you want?"

"I will not lose tonight. I do not lose matches. Especially to Cena." he said simply,

"And you felt the need to grab me and pull me in here and ask me that?" Ashley asked, still angry.

He laughed darkly. "This isn't about you. I'm warning you…no, I'm telling you, do not dare allow yourself to get pinned."

She rubbed the spot where The Legend Killer had grabbed her.

"All right, Randy, let's get one thing straight," Ashley said, sitting down on the locker room floor. "One, I don't like being ordered around. So don't do it. Two, there are two of us in this match. You could get pinned just as easily as I could. Don't put all the work on me. Got it?"

When Ashley said that, Randy seemed to get angry. No, angry was a tame word for the look Randy had on his face now. "Excuse me? Do you think I could really get pinned as easily as you?" he stepped close to the Dirty Diva in the deserted locker room, and pinned her against the wall. "Honey, I am Randy Orton. A third generation superstar. Wrestling is in my veins. I was born to be this. You have, what? Three years here? I've had twenty years of wrestling to back me up. I am great. All you are is another little Diva in this company. Another dumb blonde. Who do you think you are to tell me what you don't like? If I want to, I will tell you what to do? Because you know what ? You will pay the consequences if we lose because of your inexperience."

Ashley didn't say anything, she just let him rant and yell and make no sense whatsoever. When he stopped, she shook her head and asked, "Are you done?" The blonde rolled her eyes and shook her head. "This Randy Orton is nothing but a jerk. But you didn't used to be this way. I remember when I first came to this company, what a nice guy you were. You weren't an egotistical jerk like you are now. What happened to you?"

Randy sat silently. "I grew up, Ashley." he muttered angrily.

"Growing up doesn't mean you have to stop caring about people," Ashley said. "You used to care about everyone, you took the time to say hello to us. I remember how nice you were to me on my first day. Did you change because you started hanging around Triple H?"

"Triple H?" he scoffed. "Triple H is nothing but a washed up sissy. I don't need friends, you know. I am fine on my own. Friends only slow you down. Distract you from your purpose in life. I changed, yeah, I did. And, I know that. But, you know, what? I changed for the better. This is the REAL Randy Orton you're looking at."

"I don't believe that, Randy," Ashley replied. She had seen the hurt that flickered in his eyes when Triple H and his Evolution teammates had turned on him. Somewhere along the line, Randy had obviously decided that it was better to hurt people than to be hurt and while she could understand that, Ashley just wished that Randy would become the guy she'd once known again. "I know this is going to sound kinda weird coming from me, but I know what you're going through--what it can be like when friends let you down." She smiled and placed a hand on Randy's shoulder. "I'm always here if you want to talk about it."

He harshly removed her hands from his body. "Let me tell you this again. I do not need friends. They're useless. They're no good. I don't care about what you believe. It's not like it affects me. Just know this, you do your little flirting thing with Cena in the ring, and you'll regret it. Trust and believe that." he said coldly.

"Geez, Orton," Ashley huffed. "I was just trying to be nice and do you a favor, because I felt sorry for you. I thought maybe you would appreciate it, since no one else cares enough about you to try and help." She stood up. "But forget it, if you're going to act like a dick. I don't have to hear this kind of crap from you, Orton. Now, we've got our match, let's just go out there and do it and get it over with as soon as possible." With that, she turned to leave.

"Hate. When you hate something or someone with a passion, it motivates you. It's like you have an edge. Revenge too. It's part of who I am. Evolution is the reason I am the way I am today. Whether you like it or not. So, tonight I'm going to do whatever I have to do in order for us to win. And I have to take out your precious boyfriend, then so be it. All you have to do, is take care of Mickie James." he said, and went out room, before she could reply.

Ashley was….stunned. Randy….had….had he actually? No, she rationalized. He couldn't have possibly…..She was imagining things.

And as she was about to head out the room, it was opened, and in came John Cena.

"John?" she shrieked. "You scared me." she said nervously.

Whoa, Ashley, calm down," John said, rubbing Ashley's shoulders. "I didn't mean to scare you…what's wrong?"

What? No? Nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's the fact that you look like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck," John replied.

"Um..."she looked at the floor. "I, John,…I have to get ready for the match." she said, and began to walk away, but the Massachusetts native grabbed her by the arm.

"Wait a second, Ashley," he said, his voice stern, but not quite hard. "I wanted to talk to you before the match."

"John, I can't. I have to get ready. We can talk later, okay? I promise." she said, pasting a fake smile on her face.

John, sensing she dint want to talk now, left. But, she had promised him they would talk, and he would hold her to that. Ashley always kept her promises.

* * *

"Mickie, it's good to see you? We haven't had the chance to catch up in a long time. It's good to hear from you." the guy she was talking to on her phone greeted.

"Yeah. Are you here yet? Because I have a proposition for you." she said.

"Proposition, you say? What about" he asked.

"Well, you see…" she began…

* * *

Twenty minutes later…

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for our main event. The following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is a tag team match!" Lillian announced, as John Cena's "The Time Is Now" began to play, and out came Mickie James and John Cena. The fans half cheered and booed the team. Both responses mixed for both of them.

Lillian waited for them to get inside the ring before continuing.

_I hear voices in my head…they come to me they understand…they talk to me_

"And their opponents, from St. Louis, Missouri, and New York, they are the team of Randy Orton and Ashley Massaro!"

Randy and Ashley then made their way down the ring, with her bouncing up and down, and doing her "Rock on" sign. Randy waited for her to finish, and opened the ring ropes for her. Slow. That was what came through his head as he thought about his tag team partner. He could only hope it wouldn't cost them the match. He rolled his eyes. She was still showing her appreciation to the fans. They didn't matter.

"Ashley!" he yelled. That made her stop, and turn.

"What?" she asked.

"Focus." he yelled.

"Fine." she said, as she walked past him, to start off the match.

Mickie did the same for her team.

"Scared?" she smirked.

"You wish." the blonde replied, as she kicked the other Diva into her corner.

She then began to apply a series of slaps to the brunette's chest before throwing her into the opposite corner. But, by then, Mickie had her defense up. She ducked the running Dirty Diva, and avoided her hit. Meaning Ashley felt the ring's post hit her at full force. She groaned in pain as The crazy Diva pulled her by the hair. She tried to apply a DDT, but Ashley reversed it. The blonde woman then kicked her former friend in the stomach, and slammed her against the mat. Then, she went and tagged in the Legend Killer.

Without a word to her, he went inside, and waited for the Diva to tag in his former friend. When Mickie realized Ashley had made a tag to the third generation superstar, she tagged in the champion, who slowly made his way inside.

"What? Having doubts?" The Legend Killer smirked.

"You wish, Orton," John muttered.

The two circled the ring, neither one wanting to make the first move. Randy kept his eyes locked on John in an intimidating fashion, but the Chain Gang Soldier didn't back down from Randy's stare.

Randy was going to win, he was sure of it. He had a strategy all planned out, and there was no way they could lose.

John was the one to make the first move, instantly stepping closer to Randy. The two of them locked up, and Randy quickly set the pace for the match, kicking John in the shin swiftly. As John gritted his teeth in pain, Randy grabbed him and whipped the other man into the ropes.

Mickie looked over at Ashley and mouthed "You're so gonna lose." Ashley simply rolled her eyes. The match had just started, how could Mickie be so confident that she and John would win?

Randy attempted a clothesline, but John ducked, causing Randy to stumble and lose his balance.

He grabbed Randy from the ground and began throwing punch after punch at the Legend Killer, connecting each one with Randy's jaw. A kick to the stomach followed, and then he hoisted the Legend Killer on his shoulders for the F-U.

"Yeah, John! Come on, bring it home, baby!" Mickie yelled, tapping the mat violently.

However, Randy wasn't finished yet. John wasn't going to defeat him that easily. He wiggled around and struggled to get out of the FU, and finally did so.

Ashley smirked at Mickie and, just like Mickie had done earlier, mouthed "You're so gonna lose," all the while smiling at her foe.

Once Randy had regained his footing, he didn't waste any time. Immediately, he poked John in the eyes to throw him off.

"Yeah! Come on Randy! You can pin him!" Ashley yelled.

Randy shot her a glare. He didn't need any support. In fact, he would have been perfectly happy doing this on his own.

John was on the ground now, much like he had been earlier. The Legend Killer began stomping John viciously, which was a trademark move of his.

He quickly dropped to the ground and grabbed John, pulling him up to a sitting position, and then applied a chinlock to the West Newbury native. He really wanted to bring this match home as quickly as possible, but he doubted John would submit so early in the match.

John wasn't about to let himself get pinned. Not to Randy. So, he kicked the Legend Killer in order to get back up. He quickly got up and hoisted the young man on his shoulders for another attempt at an FU. But when he was about to drop down the former WWE Champion down, he heard a loud, thud. He turned around, and saw Mickie throw Ashley on the steel steps across the ring. John froze instantly, not knowing if he should finish the match or go out and help Ashley out. She was his friend after all.

Outside the ring, the brunette was still slamming Ashley's head into the stairs. She then grabbed Ashley by her hair, threw her to the ground, and jumped on top of her. She slapped Ashley viciously, spewing obscenities at her as she did so.

And since it was getting out of control, the referee chose to go to the outside and separate the two Divas. Since he was so distracted, John didn't notice the Legend Killer sneak up behind him with a chair. His position fixed so that when he turned around, he'd be met with a chair shot. Randy's eyes were glittering dangerously, as he waited for John to turn around.

But, the World Heavyweight champion proved to be too fast, as he speared the Missouri native before Randy even knew what was going on. He began stomping on tattooed man, just like he had previously done to him. He stomped and stomped on his former friend, and his attacks got even more vicious than the first few had been.

Ashley, noticing what was going on, somehow managed to gain the upper hand in her brawl with the former Women's Champion, and alert the referee.

Randy struggled to get away from John, but he couldn't. The other man seemed to have lost it completely and refused to let up on his attacks, even after Ashley jumped in the ring and tried to pull him off of Randy. He growled loudly and shoved her away, still hitting Randy. The former WWE Champion had a split lip and his eye was beginning to blacken. Panicked, Ashley yelled, "Stop it, John, that's enough!"

Ashley looked over at Mickie, who was just standing there. She looked shocked, but she wasn't trying to stop John, and that made Ashley mad.

"John, lay off!" she screamed, getting up in his face again. She was angry now, and she grabbed John by the shirt and pushed him off of Randy a little bit. The referee, however, wasn't paying attention, because Mickie had him distracted so that John could get the pin. Ashley whistled, to get his attention, and the referee turned around.

And while the referee did pay attention to her, John Cena did not. He appeared to be ignoring the referee's orders to stop.

Mike Chioda rang the bell, signaling the disqualification.

"Your winners for this match, as a result of a disqualification, are Ashley Massaro and Randy Orton!" Lilian's voice chimed.

"What?" Mickie exclaimed, stomping her foot. She rolled up into the ring and grabbed John by the shoulder.

"Come on, let's go," she huffed, and the two of them made their way up the ramp, not looking at anyone, and into the backstage area.


End file.
